WotC: Truth, Honor, Vision
by BrxkenArrow
Summary: Self-Insert. I have been waiting to live this life since I was six years old! And given how long I've existed, that was a really long time ago. Now I can finally live my millennia old dream of becoming a Jedi! Or I would, if I had been born sooner. Instead, I'm gonna have to settle for assisting the Rebels in taking down the Empire. Still fun! OCxSabine. REVIEW! Rated T for Safety.
1. Heist

"Oh, this is a really bad idea." I sighed to myself, watching the Imperials do their work. I was currently hiding behind a rock, watching them at a distance, through a pair of macro-binoculars whilst I stayed undercover with my Stealth Tech. Best purchase I ever made right there.

Anyway, I suppose an explanation is in order. In this universe, one I was _incredibly_ fond of, and have hoped to live in for several millennia now, I am known as Michael Shan. Strange, I know, to have such a normal name in such a universe, but I actually kinda like it. Gives me a mysterious feel to those who don't know me. I'm a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter/Mercenary. For now, at least. This particular job I'm on wasn't given to me by anybody; I heard of a certain experiment, and decided to investigate. If the intel is good, that means I just might get a new toy~

I am currently spying on an Imperial team of Technicians, who are experimenting with an old Holocron. They were in the middle of a large forest on the planet Alderaan. The Empire seems to think that there is some unknown potential to these devices, and whilst they are correct, only a Force Wielder would ever be able to tap into such potential. The Emperor knows this, Vader knows this, so why bother trying? Unless…

"Trap." I decided. But for whom? I'm hardly more than a prankster and a nuisance for the Empire. I doubt they'd go this far to get their hands on me. So it must be…

"Don't move." A voice piped up. Fuck. I keep forgetting that my Stealth Tech isn't perfect invisibility. "Slowly stand up, and deactivate the Stealth Tech." The voice ordered. Slowly, I stood up straight, and turned around. I was faced with two Stormtroopers, both of whom were pointing their pistols at me. With an internal sigh, I pressed a few keys on my vambrace pad, deactivating Stealth Mode. Both troopers gasped at what they saw.

I wore a simple pair of black leggings and a matching black long sleeved top. Over my torso, was traditional Mandalorian black armour padding, as well as on my shoulders, knees, and elbows. I also wore Mandalorian boots and bracers, with a pad attached to my left arm. I also wore a utility belt, and had two blasters attached to each of my hips, one DH-17 and one Westar 55. Everything was black for perfect stealth requirements. I never bothered with the helmet; they were always uncomfortable and caused trouble in the worst times. I replaced it with a visor that I got from an old acquaintance, complete with HUD systems and a communicator. It looked like something Geordi Laforge would wear but with a black screen lens rather than tech for blindness.

"Mandalorian…" one of the troopers observed, shocked.

"Ding ding ding, give the man a prize." I deadpanned. Before either of them could respond, I quickly pulled a blaster from it's holster and shot them both. They instantly fell to the ground, unconscious, with scorching holes in their armour. "Honestly, what was the Empire thinking when the decommissioned all the Clones in exchange for these guys?" I asked with a scoff, putting my blaster away. With a shake of my head, I took off, intent on finding another vantage point.

This little base that the Empire had put together for their 'experiments' was heavily guarded, but there were blind spots and openings in the weirdest places. Present enough to be noticed, but also subtle enough to not raise any suspicions in a normal person's mind. Unfortunately, I do not have a normal person's mind. So, I'll be going in my own way. Of course, how am I going to do that? The sun is about an hour away from setting, and I don't see myself waiting that long for total darkness. I could sneak in with a patrol using my Stealth Tech, but as we just saw, it's not a perfect cover. Hmm… what to do?

Just then, I heard what sounded like a speeder approaching. Turning my attention to the path where the sound was coming from, I indeed saw a speeder, pulling large crate with the anti-grav tech that people usually attach to those heavy cargo containers. A smirk made its way onto my face. I just found my ticket in.

* * *

OK, in hindsight, this might not have been the best idea. Here I was, hanging on for dear life, using the magnetic padding on my gloves to stay attached to the bottom of that crate I mentioned earlier. Problem is, these crates always go through inspections before being allowed into an Imperial Base. If those Stormtroopers guarding the entrance look underneath the crate, I may very well be screwed. I say 'may' because I have my Stealth Tech active for an extra precaution, but I have no idea if I'll be discovered again or not.

"Halt." The guard said as the speeder approached. Well, here we go. The Speeder stopped in an instant. I very nearly fell off, but thanks to the magnetic pads, I did not. I heard the crate open as the guard inspected the contents. After that, eternally long moments passed as he inspected the rest of the crate. By some _miracle,_ he didn't check underneath. "Clear." He announced. As I released the breath I hadn't been aware I was holding, the speeder continued on into the base. With a smirk, I deactivated my magnetic pads, fell to the ground flat on my back, and silently rolled out to the side, stopping at one of the barracks that had been set up.

" _OK, step one, enter, complete. Step two, find trap/Holocron."_ I thought to myself as I got up, being sure to stay in the shadows, where my Sealth Tech worked at it's best. _"I'll decide step three when I get there."_ I thought with a smirk.

It was easy to understand why this Research Camp was so heavily guarded. If it was a trap for whomever they were luring, they needed to sell the fact that they were researching and experimenting with a Holocron. If they really are experimenting with Holocron, then they need guards and fortification that matches what this camp has. Now it's only a matter of deciding which was true.

Making sure to keep my footsteps as quiet as I could possibly get them to be, I snuck around the camp, looking through every tent, barrack, and structure that had a roof over it's head. One area had various computer screens and Technicians analysing Holocron images and similar devices. Another was comparing frequencies from Holocrons with Kyber Crystal frequencies and other holographic devices.

Hilariously enough, I actually stumbled in on two Technicians who were on their break, getting busy, if you know what I mean. Thankfully, I got out of there before I saw anything too explicit. I'm no prude, but I respect other people's boundaries. Still, I find myself wondering why those two would risk doing such a thing here of all places. I mean, the Empire already forbids fraternisation between co-workers. Add in the fact that this camp is rather important and can't afford any distractions, regardless of whether it's a trap or not, you'd think they'd try to control themselves. But, I digress.

In actual fact, those two having their little affair in the worst possible place gave me an opportunity. They'd both left their consoles completely unguarded. So, I snuck over to one of them, maintaining my stealth, and plugged in a small transceiver into it. With a smirk, I tapped the communicator on my visor, hearing the beeping of an astromech.

" _T7 = Relieved to hear from Partner!"_ My only crew member beeped happily. T7-01, a centuries old Atromech that I picked up on Corellia some time ago. He latched himself onto me and hasn't let go since.

"Good to hear from you too little buddy." I smiled at the affectionate astromech's chirpy personality before turning serious. "I placed a transceiver in a console here in the camp. Can you hack in to determine if the rumors are true?" I asked.

" _T7 = On it!"_ He bleeped determinedly. A few moments passed before he spoke again. _"Rumor validity = Uncertain. / Files + logs = indicate Holocron in centre tent. / Truth = unknown. / Trap = possibility."_ He beeped forlornly.

"I guess I'll have to investigate further." I sighed. As much as I enjoy sticking it to the Empire, I don't like being in dangerous situations for too long.

" _T7 = agreed. / Holocron = Can not be left in Empire's clutches. / Partner = must confirm."_ The droid did not sound too happy. He really doesn't like it when I willingly leap into danger. I guess it's because he's had and lost so many partners.

"I'll be fine T7." I assured him. "I've been in worse situations before." I reminded.

" _T7 = aware. / T7 = still worry for Partner. / Many partners = lost."_ He booped, the pitch of his 'voice' dropping.

"Well, I'm still gonna be flying around the Galaxy 100 years from now, so don't worry about me." I smiled. Though he couldn't see it, I'm certain he knew of it.

" _Partner = right. / Past = in the past. / T7 = must focus on present. / Current mission = priority. / Mission = confiscate Holocron."_ He decided, perking up.

"Atta boy." I grinned. "Send the schematics to my visor." I instructed.

" _Schematics = sent. / Partner = able to find Holocron easier now. / T7 = out."_ With that, he cut the com link, having gotten me what I need.

With a smirk, I activated the HUD on my visor's lense, which showed everything my eyes could see, but analysed whatever I directed it towards. It also had another use; tracking my current position and putting together an algorithm that showed a path that directed me towards my target. It was a quick process of using longitude and latitude to judge my current position, and then, using the camp's schematics and map, it showed me where to go, based on the current mission objective, Ie, stealing the Holocron, if there is one. It was like one of those GPS systems in a car, but for your eyes, creating a simple red line for me to follow.

Now, since I had snuck in, it had gotten darker outside, so I was able to sneak round easier. That, coupled with my Stealth Tech and GPS algorithm, made getting to the Holocron quite easy. I had to silently dispatch a Stormtrooper or two on the way, hiding their bodies, but that didn't really do much to compromise the task at hand. It wasn't long before I made it to the centre of the camp, finding a rather well guarded tent. It wasn't like the others though; each 'wall,' if you could call them that, was fortified with with heavy armour plating, no doubt meant to keep intruders from just crawling in. Plus, there were 10 troopers patrolling around the tent, making it harder to get to.

"Hm…" I hummed in thought, trying to think of a way to get in there. I could just charge in, grab the Holocron, and charge out, but the odds of succeeding there are slim to none. I doubt I'd get out unscathed, or even alive. Probably wouldn't even get out of the camp, let alone to my ship. So that's out.

Option 2; steal a Stormtrooper uniform and hope that I get clearance to go inside. Fat chance. I doubt they'd let any random Stormtrooper into a lab that important. And the technicians don't wear helmets or carry weapons, so I'd have to go in exposed and unarmed. I'd be outed and shot within seconds.

Last, but certainly not least, I could employ an ancient Mandalorian art that dates back millennia; the art of distraction. Smirking, I snuck backwards towards a tent I hoped would be empty; the bed chamber tent, which had about 20 steel cots for the technicians to sleep, whilst the troopers who were off duty slept in the barracks.

As I managed to sneak in, I was relieved to find that no one was occupying the cots. Well, it wasn't exactly midnight, so that shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but the relief comes from the fact that I can work in peace in here when setting up the distraction. Said distraction; thermal detonators planted across this tent. I'd have to employ the infernal concept of patience for this plan to work, so it better be worth it.

Glancing around, I checked each cot to see which ones were used the most. You can tell by the condition of the pillows and blankets, the hair scattered across the cot and surrounding floor, and by how worn out the ground is around it, from people walking around the cots so much. Putting that all together, I slipped a thermal detonator under the three most used cots and set them all to detonate when pressure is applied to surface they are attached to. Ie, when someone lays down on one of these cots, the detonators will feel the pressure, and then, _kaboom._ Hehe~ It's gonna be glorious~ And it'll distract the guards to the point that I'll be able to sneak in and grab the Holocron, assuming it's there.

Now, as for the reason why I set the detonators to go off when they feel pressure; I want as many people out of the way as possible. So, when someone sets on a bed that has a bomb, there should be others in there as well, meaning more Technicians and maybe even a couple of Stormtroopers will be taken out as well. Adding in to that the fact that I used three detonators means an explosion big enough to take out anyone in the resting tent and the two barracks on either side of it. Perfection~

Unfortunately, now comes the waiting. Ugh, I absolutely _hate_ waiting. For anything really. That's not to say I'm incapable of doing so; I can be very patient when I want to, or need to, but it's far from pleasant. In all my lives, in all the millennia, I have never been able to change this. I guess it's just one of those things that don't change. In each universe, I'm technically an entirely different person, but I don't recall ever living a life where I don't hate waiting. Strange.

Anyway, to pass the time, I activated the music function of the earpieces on my visor, playing some music. I don't need to hear an explosion to know when it happens. I'll feel and see it. So, to entertain myself, I listened to some music after climbing a tree and resting on one of the higher branches. Oddly enough, the music from the movies and shows all exist in this universe. The Imperial March, Duel of the Fates, Across the Stars, and all that, they all exist here. I wonder if that means there's a John Williams doppelganger around, hehe. Plus there are various artists and bands, beyond those silly alien guys you see at cantinas.

Well, now that I have time, I suppose I can go a little deeper into what exactly I've been doing in this universe so far. I was born on Coruscant. My father was Mandalorian Bounty Hunter of Clan Varad, and my mother… well, we'll get to her at a later date. For those of you who want to know, no, I am not an alien in this universe. I'm human. Well, I do have a Changeling somewhere up in my ancestry, so I'm like 99% human.

Before you freak out, the Clawdites are not the only Changeling species out there. There's an almost extinct race of humanoid Changelings called the Metamorgans. They look completely human even in their true forms, they just have the ability to shapeshift like any other Changeling. The Changeling ancestor I mentioned was one of these; he came from my mother's side of the family. Only a couple of people in my family have inherited the shapeshifting abilities though, myself included. Unfortunately, the Metamorgan blood within me is so thin that all I can really pull off is changing my hair and eye colour. Anything more is beyond my capabilities.

It's still cool though. I get to change my look whenever I want. Under normal circumstances, my hair would be a dark red-ish brown, and my eyes a deep green. Currently, however, I had my hair black for stealth purposes, and my eyes dark brown. I usually enjoy having my features in exotic and unusual colours, as I find my natural ones to be rather boring. Before this mission started, I made my hair silver with the tips black, and my eyes an electric blue. I had that for a while though, so I'll change it to something else once I'm done here.

Digression aside…

As I stated earlier, I was born on Coruscant, where my mother lived. The Clone War started when I was around a year old, but my parents made sure I wasn't caught in anything involving the war. Unfortunately, when Order 66 was issued, we had to flee Coruscant for Mandalore. Over there, I was trained and educated by my Clan before being sent to the Imperial Academy there. I quickly decided I didn't want to stay there, and left on a very special ship that I stole from the Academy. I called it the Huntress.

Not like anybody would miss me. My father died whilst on Bounty Hunt, and my mother disappeared years ago. I don't even know if she's still alive. And since I won't be welcome on Mandalore, for obvious reasons, I took my mother's name and adopted the life of a Bounty Hunter. At least until I decide what I want to do next. I could just join the Rebellion, but I fail to see much point in doing so until Luke comes along, and that'll only happen in a couple years, less than five, I think. So, what do I do until then? Whatever comes to mind. And right now…

*BOOOOOOOOOOM!*

I smirked.

Right now, I want a shiny new Holocron.

With that thought in mind, I deactivated the music playing in my earpiece and brought the lens of my visor down, zooming in on the armour plated tent that had the Holocron. The explosion had done its job. Two barracks and a bunk tent up in flames, taking about 50 Imperials with them, and drawing all the attention, which left only two guards in front of the tent. Perfect.

Slowly, and silently, I slid down the tree I'd been resting in. As I got to the bottom, I quickly whipped out my blasters and ran straight for the tent. Before the two guards could even say 'halt,' I had shot them right in the head. My blasters are set to stun at the moment, so I didn't kill them. I don't really care about killing Imperials all that much, but I usually have my blasters on stun rather than kill, unless I'm in a tough situation. Mainly because I'd rather stray fire not hit someone it shouldn't by accident. I may be good with a blaster, but I'm not exactly a legendary sharpshooter.

Entering the armoured tent, I was greeted to the sight of three Technicians, who were no doubt ordered to keep focus on their work, surrounding what looked like a pyramidal structure that belonged in a Jedi Temple., each one of them held different tools and/or equipment, like a datapad, or a scanner. As I entered, all of their attention turned on to me.

"Hi." I smiled brightly, shooting them. As they fell to ground, I holstered my blasters and smirked. "Bye." I said redundantly, walking over them to the structure. It seemed to be mostly made of stone, but the tip was technological in some way. That was the Holocron. A triangular Holocron attached to a stone pyramid. Interesting. The deep purple glow it had also caught my eye. Strange. Holocrons are usually red or blue, depending on their Force Alignment. What could purple mean? Balance between Dark and Light?

"Very interesting indeed…" I mused thoughtfully, picking up the datapad that the one Technician was using. "I see." I mumbled as I skimmed through the data. They weren't experimenting or researching this thing, they were trying to detach it from the stone structure, as it couldn't be used in its current state, and nobody, not even the Emperor himself, had been able to get it off, with or without the Force. Very interesting.

I've only heard of stories like this a couple of times. Once, on Korriban, a couple thousand years ago, there was a Holocron in the tomb of an infamous Sith Lord. Scientists, Sith, and even a couple of Jedi had tried to get a particular Holocron from a vault in said tomb. For centuries, many tried and failed. Until a young Sith Apprentice shot lightning at the vault, and it opened. Many speculated as to why a simple Apprentice succeeded where even Dark Council members failed. Some believed the solution to be so simple that nobody thought of it, others believed that that young Apprentice was the one meant to open the vault. The mystery was never solved.

Now how the hell am I gonna get this thing to my ship?! It's on the other side of this forest, and I don't have time to figure out what happened with that Sith Apprentice. I don't even know if I could. Well… there is _something_ I could try, but there's no doubt some surveillance devices in here, and whilst the tech in m visor does protect my face from facial recognition algorithms, I'd rather my secret not get out… Plus, there's no guarantee it would work.

"Sound the alarm! Intruder alert!" A Trooper yelled outside. Fuck! They must have figured out the source of the explosion.

"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath. I don't have a choice. Focussing on the Holocron, I held out one of my hands and closed my eyes. I focussed my emotions on what I wanted, my determination to keep such a powerful item out of the Empire's clutches, and… When I opened my eyes, silver specks of electricity were dancing around my fingertips. As I focussed, the electricity shot towards the holocron, having become lightning. After several seconds, I ceased the Lightning and glared at the structure waiting for something to happen.

Nothing happened. I was about curse out loud again, thinking I'd exposed myself for nothing, as I didn't have time to get rid of the surveillance footage, and even if I blew up the entire camp, they'd probably be able to recover the footage. As I was about to leave, a hissing sound stopped me. Looking back at the pyramid, I saw steaming coming from the edges around the the Holocron, and cracks appeared in the stone pyramid. Suddenly, the cracks travelled down the pyramid, and it tumbled to the ground as dust, leaving behind a long metal pole stand, with the Holocron on top. Interestingly enough, the Holocron was actually _not_ triangular, but actually shaped like a dimensional diamond. With a wide grin, I held out my hand, calling to the device. In seconds, it floated to my hand.

"Sweet." I grinned like a maniac. Tossing it up and catching it again, I slipped the device into a pouch on my utility belt. Peeking my head out of the tent, I came face to face with about 10 Stormtroopers. "Fuck." I said a totally blunt tone as they all aimed their blasters at me.

"Stand down!" The apparent leader of the group ordered as I stepped out of the tent completely. "Hands where I can see them!" He barked, his weapon humming. The rest of the troopers warmed their weapons up to. With a small smirk, I held my hands up at about ear level. The leader gestured for two of the troopers to cuff me, but as they stepped forward, I thrust my arms out. In complete sync with my arms' movements, all of the troopers went flying back, landing on the backs with pained grunts. One or two of them might have even broken a bone due to the amount of Force. Ha! See what I did there?

"See ya." I gave a two fingered salute to the leader, who was getting up, and activated my Stealth tech. With the fumes from the fire, the uneven lighting of the lamps, and the lack of moonlight made Stealth Mode a little more stealthy. Still, I did my best to avoid any confrontations with the Stormtroopers left in the camp. So I made sure to get out in the most subtle way possible; I walked out the front door. Well, gate, but you get the idea; I was practically invisible, and was able to walk right out completely unnoticed. The troopers were too busy looking for me to guard the entrance. Classic Stormtrooper idiocy. Well, it works out for me~

* * *

"Whoo~!" I let out a deep breath as I finally got to a satisfactory distance away from the research camp. I was at least a hundred kilometres away, and hopefully I've lost any and all pursuers that were chasing after me. I had to shoot a few of them, but I'm fairly certain I'm in the clear.

With that happy thought, I slid down against a tree, allowing myself some rest. Unfortunately, it didn't last; T7 was calling.

"Yeah little buddy?" I asked tiredly as I pressed the activation key on my visor.

" _T7 = worried! / Partner = no report for too long!"_ The droid beeped frantically. Heh, he must be rolling around the ship by now. Poor little guy with his paranoia.

"I'm fine T7, don't worry about me." I chuckled, the fatigue still fresh in my limbs. Damn, sitting in that tree for so long made me stiff.

" _T7 = always worried. / Partner = in danger often. / Partner = best warrior T7 worked with in decades."_ The atromech returned heatedly, which for him meant high pitched beeps and bloops that are all mangled together. So much so that it sometimes makes it difficult to understand what he's saying. Which is actually kind of impressive, because Binary was already hard enough to understand and/or learn in the first place.

"I appreciate that you think so highly of me T7, but you really don't need to worry." I told him with a smile. It warmed my heart how attached he was to me. "I got the Holocron, I got out of there, and now I'm just resting my legs before I head back to the inn." I told him, pulling the Holocron out of my belt. Very strange to see one in the shape of a diamond, and coloured purple no less.

Most Holocrons were either cubes, or pyramids. This one looked almost like two pyramids attached together. The colour was intriguing too. Most Holocrons were either red or blue, representing Dark and Light respectively. Of course, there were green ones, which represented tactical, strategic, technological knowledge rather than Force related knowledge. The bronze ones were Light Side, and the Black and gold ones were Dark Side. Purple ones have been seen before, but I have no idea what they represent. It can't be as simple as red + blue = purple, thus Dark + Light = purple. I'm sure there are Holocrons that hold the teachings of Grey Jedi or something like that, but would that be what a purple Holocron shows? Seems too simple to me. I'd personally go with silver for a Holocron like that…

" _Holocron = real? / Research Camp = not a trap?"_ T7 asked in interest, snapping me from my musings.

"Oh, yes." I cleared my throat. "The Holocron is real. The rumors were true." I confirmed. "But they were slightly inaccurate; the Empire wasn't experimenting on it, they were trying to free it from it's 'container' for lack of a better term." I explained.

" _Empire = fail in task? / Partner = succeed where Empire failed?"_ He asked, now sounding confused. I can understand that. He doesn't know what I did to get it out, but he does know what I can do.

"I'll explain later." I said tiredly. "For now, I have a task for you." I informed.

" _T7 = ready to help in any way!"_ He chirped happily, making me smile.

"I need you to do some digging on this Holocron." I told him, allowing my HUD to scan it and send him an image. "See if you can find out what the colour and shape mean. I'd rather not open it until I have an idea of what's inside." I said with a thoughtful from. "Use everything at your disposal; the Holonet, my scroll collection, even my other Holocron if you think it's necessary." I instructed.

" _Task = understood! / T7 = get on it right away!"_ He whistled, no doubt smiling ear to ear. Metaphorically I mean.

"Thanks T7." I smiled. "I'll bring you back a nice new coating of shiny paint after I get some sleep at the inn." I told him. He whistled excitedly at that; he loves getting new paint jobs. "Michael out." I bade him farewell with a tired sigh, cutting the com link.

With a groan, I got up, clicking a few joints as I got to my feet. The town with the inn I was staying at was located about another 10 to 20 minute walk away from here. Unfortunately, the town in which I had to dock my ship was at least a three hour walk away from that town, meaning about 10 minutes on a speeder. I'll have to rent one in the morning. But for now, I'm headed for an inn.

* * *

Sabine Wren was sitting in the only chair on the Ghost's rest area, boredly spraying a new design onto her helmet. She'd just gotten a new hairdo as well; her hair was longer, and she changed it to white, making the tips fade into darker shades of purple as it got closer to the ends. She'd also put more intricate designs on her armour, painting an owl-like creature in honor of their recently deceased comrade; Ahsoka Tano.

It's been a month since the situation on Malachor. The now blind Kanan was still brooding at the edges of Chopper Base whenever he wasn't needed for a mission, which was quite often. Ezra had changed his look somewhat too; he shaved his head to get the long hair out of his way, and it naturally turned slightly darker. Zeb and Hera hadn't changed that much, and neither had Chopper, but they were all affected by Ahsoka's death, even if the didn't show it much.

Whilst Sabine worked on her new helmet design, Zeb and Ezra were having a game Dejarik, Hera was going through some reports and articles on Holonet looking for anything interesting or possibly even useful, Kanan was meditating in his room, and Chopper was boredly spectating Ezra and Zeb's Dejarik game. They were fairly evenly matched, and it was anybody's guess where the game would go.

Rex was off on a scouting mission given to him by Commander Sato, and he'd gone with a small squadron of rebel soldiers. The death of Ahsoka hit him harder than it did anyone else but you'd never guess it. He says that as a Clone he was programmed to accept the deaths of any fellow soldiers and comrades, but anyone could see that he misses his oldest friend dearly, even if he wouldn't show it.

"Well this is interesting…" Hera suddenly piped up.

"What is it?" Sabine asked, moving her attention away from her helmet.

"An article on the Holonet says that a Holocron was stolen from an Imperial research camp on Alderaan." The Twi'lek pilot said, staring at the Holo-page thoughtfully.

"What would a Holocron be doing in a research camp?" Ezra asked in confusion, turning away from his and Zeb's game. "Only a Force-user can open those things." He added, his thoughts drifting to the Holocron he kept hidden in his room.

"That's a good question." Hera frowned, reading onwards. Her eyes suddenly widened as a particular bit of info caught her attention. "Chopper, go get Kanan. He needs to hear this." She ordered the droid. The Astromech beeped affirmatively and rolled off towards Kanan's room.

"Why does Kanan need to hear this?" Ezra asked with a frown. Things between him and his Master were a little tense at the moment. They've hardly spoken since the Malachor fiasco.

"You'll see now." Hera answered cryptically as Chopper rolled back in, Kanan following. His beard and hair had grown since he lost his sight, and he now wore a mask over his eyes to cover them.

"What's the situation?" The Jedi Knight asked.

"Listen." Hera answered, moving over to the Dejarik board. She erased the game that was being played, much to the chagrin of Zeb and Ezra, and relayed the article she was reading into the holoprojector in the board, revealing an image of what looked like a young Mandalorian warrior, most definitely male, with his face pixalated. Hera then activated the audio version of the article.

" _On Alderaan, approximately three hours ago, an Imperial Research Camp that was studying an unusual Holocron was raided and robbed by a young Mandalorian. Whether or not he was hired to carry out this heist is unknown, but he managed to make off with the Holocron and take the lives of at least half of the troopers and researchers in the camp."_ A deep male voice spoke. That of a nameless reporter no doubt. _"The contents and significance of the Holocron are yet unknown, but it is speculated that the knowledge within could be quite valuable."_ The voice continued. _"The thief was also seen using abilities that were once exclusive to the Jedi Order and Sith Empire, including strange lightning from his fingertips and pushing troopers away with a thrust of his arm."_ Everybody in the room stiffened at that little bit of information, except for Hera, who had already read this. With that, she turned off the recording.

"The rest is just descriptions and his equipment. Nothing of major note." She explained.

"So, we've got a Force Sensitive Mandalorian running amuck in the Empire." Kanan surmised, a thoughtful hand on his chin. How he managed to look so wise with half of his face covered was a mystery to everyone.

"What's more shocking, the running amuck, or the Force Sensitive bit?" Ezra asked, completely in awe of what he just heard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sabine glared.

"Sabine, very few Mandalorians actively stand against the Empire like this. They're either staying out of it, or with the Empire. You're a notable exception." Hera told the young girl she saw as a daughter, her tone calming.

"Plus, there hasn't been a Force Sensitive Mandalorian seen in centuries, maybe even Millennia." Kanan chimed in. "The only one I know of is Tarre Vizsla." He added. Unable to come up with fitting argument, Sabine relented, albeit begrudgingly. She may be… estranged from her people, but that doesn't stop her from taking pride in her heritage.

"What exactly does this have to do with us?" Zeb asked, wondering why they were even having this conversation.

"Mandalorians are strong warriors as is, and this guy, whoever he is, seems to have no love for the Empire." Hera pointed out.

"If so, he could make a valuable ally." Kanan agreed.

"What, one Mando's not enough for you?" Zeb asked in a deadpanned tone, earning an airbrush to the head.

"The point is, if the Empire gets their hands on him, imagine what kind of Inquisitor he'd make." Kanan returned. Nobody liked the thought of that. "Or even worse, a Sith." He grimaced. Yeah, nobody liked that thought either.

"So we find him and offer him a spot in the rebellion, then what?" Ezra asked.

"He could refuse." Sabine pointed out.

"Why would he?" Hera asked. "He's just as wanted by the Empire as we are." She reminded.

"So are many other people, and how many of them actively stand against the Empire as Rebels?" Kanan asked in response.

"Well, first thing is actually finding him. Then we can figure out the rest." Ezra suggested.

"That might be all we can do." Hera frowned, resting her chin on her fist thoughtfully.

This new mystery man interested the entire crew. Sabine because she was hoping to meet a fellow Mandalorian who opposes the Empire as she does, Hera because she thought he could assist them in their cause, Kanan because he thought this young man might be open to Jedi training, in hopes of rebuilding the Order eventually, Zeb because, being a Lasat warrior, he was taught to respect and honor great warriors, even those not of his people, and Ezra because he thought that this Mandalorian Force Wielder could have knowledge that he'd be willing to share, knowledge beyond what he's learnt from the Sith Holocron and Kanan. The Holocron that this guy stole also interested him.

Chopper was just groaning at the prospect of another crew member. The Ghost was crowded enough already.

* * *

 **OK, Star Wars was a universe I'd been wanting to write in for a while now. There aren't nearly enough OC stories out there for the franchise, and I wanted to add to them. Only problem was, I couldn't decide where to put my OC. Clone Wars, Rebels, or some other point. Hell, I even considered having my OC play a role from SWTOR. Eventually, I decided to go with Rebels. Reason being; Sabine.**

 **Admit it, for cartoon character, she's pretty badass. She's easily one of my favorite characters in the whole Star Wars universe. Heck, I'd even go so far as to call her my waifu if she was an anime character. Women who can kick ass are sexy, and you all know it. It's the main reason why characters like Black Widow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Lara Croft are so popular.**

 **And this is also the reason why I intend to make this an OCxSabine story. There aren't enough of those.**

 **And before anybody asks, no, Michael will not become a Jedi or a Sith. I myself would rather be a Sith than Jedi, but I digress. I believe that both the Jedi and Sith are too focussed on either the Light or Dark Side of the Force. In my opinion, there shouldn't be any Dark or Light. Not even shades of Grey. There should just be the Force. Clear, if that helps you understand. And in implementing this mindset into my story, I'm going open up a whole new box of possibilities with the Force.**

 **I hope ya'll enjoyed this. See ya soon!**


	2. Escaping Alderaan

"You know, I remember a time when I could pay a rental droid 10 credits for use of a Speeder for half an hour." I grumbled, handing over the necessary credits to the rental droid who oversaw the rental speeders. There were speeder bikes, landspeeders, speeder vans, and any other number of variations of the vehicle. I just went with a simple bike.

"Well now it's 100 credits per hour. Deal with it." The droid snapped at me, putting the credits in his storage space. Great, a droid with attitude.

"The Empire ruined everything far more than the creators showed…" I muttered under my breath, mounting the speeder bike. With a sigh, I shot off onto the forest path with speed that only a speeder could produce.

Man, I loved speeders, especially the bikes. I got one a couple of months ago that I keep on my ship, but didn't use it here because I had nowhere to store it when I wasn't using it; an old Aratech Ice. Fantastic machine that thing is. It could cover the distance between these two towns in 3 minutes, whilst what I'm using now, one of the BARC Speeders leftover from the Clone Wars, which you could find anywhere nowadays, would take about 10 to 15. The Aratech Ice might be old, but I don't think I'll ever find a speeder that matches its quality in this day and age. And that's one of the many reasons why I love it.

I was about halfway towards the town where my ship was docked when I felt something. In the back of my mind I could hear that signature whistle that happens whenever I use the Force in depth. Only this was different. It felt like something was… calling to me. Abruptly, I stopped the speeder and looked around the distance, trying to feel the source of the call, of you could call it that. Whatever it was, it felt like it was coming from within the forest.

I suppose shouldn't exactly be shellshocked. Alderaan has been known to have a connection to the Force more potent than other planets. It's not exactly Korriban or Tython, but the connection is there. Several Sith and Jedi had phenomenal experiences here in the time of the Old Republic. There used to be an artifact once owned by a powerful Sith Lord hidden in the underground caves somewhere around the west side of the planet.

I have no idea what this was though. It could be a ghost calling for a conversation, an old artifact, another Holocron, it could even be an Inquisitor or even Vader. I have no idea. All I know is that it's Dark in one way or another. The cold feeling that the chill sent down my spine was unmistakable, but it wasn't as potent as a real Sith or Darksider would give off. It seemed more… balanced. Not unlike what I try to achieve with my Force abilities.

Should I risk it? I might end up walking into a trap. The Emperor used things like this as bait to lure in surviving Jedi during the first years of the Empire. Then again, it could prove to be something worthwhile. A dead body of a Sith/Jedi to loot, a rare lightsaber crystal, or even another Holocron. There were known to be hidden Holocrons on Alderaan during the time of the Old Republic. I might find something worthwhile if I chance it. Or I am be walking into a trap from the Empire. Doubtful; it's barely been 10 hours since I stole the Holocron. Not enough time to set up a trap that can hold me.

"Fuck it." I sighed, turning the speeder in the direction the call was coming from. I can only hope that something worthwhile comes of this.

* * *

I stopped the speeder just outside of a small cave entrance. When I say small, I mean _small_. T7 would probably just barely fit if he was lucky. It seemed to be where I felt the call coming from. As I got closer to it, I felt the call getting stronger. Coherent words started after I got to about a kilometre away. Now, I'm hearing almost full sentences.

" _Blood of my blood… enter…"_ A calm, female voice instructed. Somehow, I felt like I'd heard that voice before. Pulling out my DH Blaster, I cautiously entered through the small opening, needing to crouch rather low in order to do so. It was uncomfortable, and there wasn't a whole lot of space to move, but I managed to slowly make my way through this mini tunnel with my blaster pointing forward. I do not want to find myself face to face with a Killik or some other kind of creature. Seriously, those bugs are like the Star Wars version of the Borg. _You will be assimilated_ blah blah blah. Ugh, the thought sends a chill up my spine. I mean, I know those guys are supposed to be extinct on Alderaan at this point in time, but you never know what's hiding underground, or in caves like this one.

"This whole trip better be worth it." I growled, wiping some cobwebs off of my face. Not a pleasant feeling.

" _You draw near… Continue…"_ The voice whispered again. The end of the tunnel was visible now; there was a small and rather faint light in the distance. It took a little time, but I finally managed to crawl to the end of the tunnel…

Only to find out that said end is about 5 metres above the ground.

"Waaah!" I yelped in shock as I fell, landing on my back. "Oow…" I groaned, letting out a frustrated sigh. "You know Lady, if this is some form of joke to you, it's not funny!" I snapped at the air, hearing my voice echo. With a scowl, I got up, inspecting myself. "Oh great, my armour is dented. Fantastic." I sighed in frustration once more. Repairing Mandalorian armour costs quite a few credits, and I don't have the tools to do it myself.

" _You're path is clear…"_ The woman whispered again, sounding louder and closer. Finally managing to click my spine, damn it felt good, I turned around and faced the area I had ended up in. It seemed to be some kind of underground cavern, decorated to look like a tomb. Well, probably because it is a tomb. At the very centre of this place was a large, silver, rectangular sarcophagus, pole stands surrounding, each one with a lit candle on top. Not gonna question how those candles stay lit…

Hanging from the roof of this tomb were several dark blue banners, each with the Jedi Order's symbol in black decorating them. And I seemed to have landed on the beginning of a path that lead straight towards the sarcophagus. I didn't need anymore info to know that this was some kind of Jedi tomb. But what's it doing here? I thought all Jedi were laid to rest in the Jedi Temple of Coruscant. Maybe this one was an exception, or the one who was buried requested this. Who knows?

Still keeping my blaster at the ready, I slowly made my way to the sarcophagus. I've raided tombs before, so that didn't bother too much, but I could feel a presence in here. Whoever was calling me was here. And I bet that they're in that glorified coffin. Their body at least was. If this person was a Jedi, then there's a strong possibility that she-

"Hello, blood of my blood."The voice greeted, now completely clear, as I stopped just in front of the coffin. The greeting, coming from behind me, made me jump slightly.

"Don't do that!" I snapped, turning to face the Force Ghost in front of me. She was a middle aged woman with a small amount of wrinkles around her eyes and cheeks. She wore tight fitting combat gear, olive brown in colour, with a few gold trimmings. Her boots and gloves were a darker shade of brown, also with gold trimmings here and there. Her hair was a light shade of black, a little grey in some areas, and her eyes were the same blue as my mother's, a color I often adopted myself with my Changeling abilities. All in all, this lady looked like an older version of my mom; Relia Shan. "Who are you?" I asked, my eyes narrow.

"I am your blood, your ancestor, your family." She answered, walking around me with her hands behind her back. "My name is Satele Shan, formerly Grand Master of the Jedi order." She introduced, facing me once more.

Aha! I knew I recognized her as more than a lookalike of my mom!

"So, why did you bring me here?" I asked, holstering my blaster. She seemed to be pleased to see my calmer attitude.

"I sensed your presence several hours ago, and knew that you were my descendant. I wanted to meet the member of my family." She explained, looking me up and down, as if sizing me up, or even checking to see if I was worthy to carry her name.

"So, you wanted to see your x-number-of-greats grandson?" I asked bluntly, not totally believing her. "Forgive me if I think there's more to it." I deadpanned, She gave a small smile, as if amused by me.

"True, there is more, but for now, I'd like to know your name." She said, her eyebrows raised in expectation. I flushed softly in embarrassment as I realised I hadn't introduced myself. I may not hold the Jedi Order in the highest regard, but that's no reason to show such disrespect to my own flesh and blood, metaphorically speaking. After all, I am a Mandalorian; we value family above all else.

"My given name is Michael Varad, but some time ago I took the name Michael Shan." I introduced, giving her a small bow.

"You wear Mandalorian armour." She observed.

"My father, Leon Varad, was of Mandalore." I explained.

"And your mother?" She asked.

"Jedi Master Relia Shan." I informed. Satele seemed to take in this information, letting out a small hum of thought. "You don't seem all that upset that your descendant had a secret affair with a Mandalorian." I observed. She gave me an understanding smile in response.

"I had a secret affair with Republic soldier that birthed my son, Theron." She revealed. "I am hardly in a position to judge, or be upset." She reasoned. Fair point. I never knew that actually. I knew she had a son named Theron Shan, but I never knew her was born of a secret affair like I was. I always assumed that she lay with a man she believed would be worthy to sire the next generation of Jedi, and Theron's lack of Force Sensitivity was dumb luck.

"That makes sense I suppose." I shrugged. Satele continued studying me for a moment.

"Yes… Mandalorian, Changeling, Jedi, and Sith heritage…" She spoke softly and thoughtfully. "You most definitely have a very powerful bloodline, Michael. And a powerful connection to the Force, I sense." She said, sounding very pleased. Hm, Jedi don't usually focus so much on power… What is she up to? "I have a task for you." She told me out of nowhere. Ok, now I see.

"Being?" I asked curiously. I'll decide whether or not to take this little job after I know what it is.

"Within my sarcophagus, lies with me the lightsabers I wielded in my life." She told, gesturing to the coffin. "First, I want you to remove them." She told me. I raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but decided to play along. Facing the coffin, I outstretched a hand and focused my attention on the coffin. "Do not act with emotion." She warned me. "To open a Jedi tomb requires Jedi teachings." I frowned lightly at the needs of this tomb, but couldn't deny the logic there. It's just that the Light Side of the Force alone never came easy to me. I prefered using both Light and Dark in tandem, or neither at all. I always saw the Force as more Clear than anything else; no Black, White, or even Grey.

With a deep breath, I focussed on the sarcophagus once more, my arm outstretched. I did my best to keep a calm, focussed, and peaceful feel in my heart as I focussed the Force on the opening of the coffin. It took some time to finally grab a hold of it, and I had to centre myself from my frustration more than once, but I eventually managed to get a good grip on the stone lid. I had to very careful as I actually opened it, as if I let even the smallest speck of emotion bleed through, there's no telling what would happen. So, the best choice would be to go slow and steady, carefully lifting the coffin lid up, and resting it down on the ground. It took a while, but I eventually managed.

"Whew." I breathed out, wiping some sweat from my forehead. There was quite a bit of resistance there, as if the coffin really didn't want to be opened, but that was understandable; it's supposed to be the final resting place of a Jedi Grand Master.

Speaking of which, Satele hummed in satisfaction, raising her hand. Out from the coffin, two lightsabers floated out. One was a single bladed lightsaber, the other was a saberstaff/dualsaber, whatever you want to call it. The dualsaber looked like two of the single saber connected at the bottoms, with exotic patterns decorating the grip, and beautiful emitters on either side. As I said, the single bladed saber looked pretty much like half of the saberstaff.

"Take them. They are yours now." She said softly, allowing the devices to float towards me. Hesitantly, I grasped them.

"You know, I already have a lightsaber." I informed her.

"I suspected as much." She conceded. "What you build for yourself can be a valuable asset, but there is also great value in what is passed down by family." She said wisely. That sort of makes sense… I think… With a thoughtful look, I activated both blades. The single bladed lightsaber had a beautiful dark green blade, almost emerald. The dualsaber on the other hand, didn't activate. Frowning, I deactivated the green blade and placed it on my belt. Gripping the saberstaff, I twisted in the right places, allowing it to split open in the centre. I pulled the two halves apart, showing the crystal chamber; it was empty.

"What's this about?" I asked my ancestor, sending her a confused look.

"That is the lightsaber I used during the battle of Alderaan. Darth Malgus cut in in half, destroying both the crystal chamber, and the Krayt Dragon Pearl I'd used to power it." She explained. I had to admit that was impressive; destroying Krayt Dragon Pearl was difficult to do, even with a lightsaber. That means this guy's lightsaber must have been powerful. "I managed to recover the remains, and repair the device, but I never found a suitable replacement for the Pearl. That task falls to you now." She continued.

"So that's what you want me to do?" I asked, befuddled. "Find a new power source for our old lightsaber?" Why in the name of all of Mandalore would she want me to do that?

"Yes, and I want you to use it to assist in ending this war the Galaxy is in." She informed. Ah, there's the catch.

"And why would you want that?" I asked, clipping the saberstaff onto my belt, next to the other lightsaber. She gave a light, sad sigh.

"It saddens me to see the state of the Galaxy as it is, as does the state of my family." She said forlornly. "In my day, the Shan Family was a great and powerful family of benevolent individuals. Many of us who were born with Force Sensitivity joined the Jedi Order. We were peacekeepers, warriors, defenders." She spoke with nostalgia in her voice. "I wish to see our family returned to its former station, and I believe you are the key to doing so." She told me.

"Why me though?" I asked. "Why not my mother, or some other relative? Surely there are more." I stated.

"You are wrong." Satele shook her head. "You are the last of Shan family that I have been able to locate. If your mother is alive, she is beyond even my senses." Well that's unfortunate.

"She disappeared several years ago, but I never heard anything about her death. I would have felt it in the Force." I reasoned.

"Perhaps." She agreed. "But we are veering off topic. I want you to restore our family to what it once was; a clan of peacekeepers, like the Jedi." She told me.

"Have you considered the fact that I'm content with what I have now?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I could very well leave here and sell these lightsabers for enough credits to buy a luxurious mansion here on Alderaan, or even a yacht to travel the Galaxy with." I pointed. "How do you know I want to restore our family as you do?" I asked.

"You were raised on Mandalore." She responded, her eyes narrowed, almost as if amused. "You were taught to value family above all else." She reminded. True, true. "But beyond that, I don't know what you will do." She admitted. "The choice is yours, and I can only hope that you will make the right choice." She said as she started to fade. "Goodbye Michael Shan, Blood of my blood." She said, before fading from sight. Out of nowhere, the coffin seemed to close itself, but I could feel the Force at work there, so I wasn't all too startled.

"Well, today just got exciting." I stated bluntly, making my way towards the entrance. "And now I have to crawl through the mini tunnel again. Fantastic." I sighed as I started climbing.

I had a strange feeling that today would not be the last I saw of Master Satele Shan.

* * *

"Well, today was certainly interesting." I said with a hum as I approached the docking bay that I parked my ship in. The small city I currently walked in was called Palpatine City. It was named after, you guessed it, the current Emperor, and he had it built to show off his Empire's claim on Alderaan after the Clone Wars. I figured I could land my ship here because it's a good distance away from the Research Camp I'd raided. Hiding in plain sight, as it were.

I was about to input the codes for opening the Bay, but I was stopped by two Stormtroopers. "Halt, Bounty Hunter." One of them said as they approached.

"Is there a problem, Trooper?" I asked, smiling innocently.

"The Empire has ordered all Mandalorians present on Alderaan to report for questioning in the case of a stolen treasure." The other guy said, grabbing my arm forcefully.

"Whoa whoa, let's just calm down shall we?" I asked, pring myself away from him, holding my hands up when they readied their blasters. "There's no need for that." I rolled my eyes. "I just wish to express my distaste at being man-handled. Keep your hands to yourself, and we'll have no problems." I crossed my arms. For a few seconds, they studied me, no doubt narrowing their eyes under their helmets, before standing down.

"Follow us." The first Trooper instructed. My innocent smile turned slightly mischievous as they turned their backs.

"I am not a person of interest in this case." I spoke in a soft, clear, and hypnotic voice as I waved my hand, taking a light grip on their minds with the Force.

"You…" The first trooper muttered, sounding dazed. "You are not a person of interest in this case…" He said, robotically.

"You will tell no one that you met me." I spoke in the hypnotic tone again.

"We will tell no one that we met you…" The second trooper repeated, also robotically. With a satisfied smirk, I allowed the troopers on their way. Honestly, if those guys were clones, I wouldn't have been able to do that. As I started inputting the codes for the Bay that held my ship, I was interrupted yet again.

"Blast him!" A trooper of higher rank than the last two guys yelled. I was suddenly bombarded with blaster fire, and had to quickly roll out of the way to avoid being shot. "Do not let up!" The commanding trooper barked. "Do not allow him time to use his abilities!" He ordered.

" _Fuck!"_ I cursed mentally, drawing my blasters, setting them to kill. _"Someone must have seen me using the Mind Trick."_ I reasoned, shooting two troopers down. _"How could I be so careless?!"_ I raged at myself, avoiding more fire. It was difficult getting any shots in, as they were coming in from all directions. Say what you will about Stormtroopers, but they do have a number advantage.

"Hold you fire!" A new commanding voice ordered loudly. Suddenly, the Imperial fire stopped. "Come out little Jedi, face me." the voice commanded. Definitely feminine, and quite condescending too. By her voice's pitch, I'd say she's in her mid 30s, maybe late 20s.

"Why would I do that?" I asked loudly, keeping my blasters ready.

"I suppose only you can answer that." She responded. I don't what it was, but something about this woman rubbed me the wrong way. She had a strong presence, and quite a dark one too. It was almost as if she was… Oh, I see…

"I didn't think I was important enough for the Empire to send an Inquisitor." I said as I stood up, facing the Inquisitor and troopers. "I suppose I should be flattered." The men kept their blasters on me, but the woman just stood there calmly, her hands behind her back. She was human, with long red hair that she tied back into secure ponytail, her eyes an unsettling shade of orange, and her skin rather pale. She wore the typical Inquisitor uniform, but left the helmet out. Just like me I suppose.

"This need not drag on any further." She said, her Imperial accent strong. "Hand over the Holocron, and you'll be free to go, Jedi." She offered.

"I don't believe you." I said bluntly. "And for your information, I'm no Jedi." I corrected her.

"Irrelevant." She said, getting impatient, her orange eyes narrow. "Give me the Holocron you stole, or I will kill you." She threatened, taking the lightsaber from off of her belt. Typical Inquisitor design.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." I told her, taking the single lightsaber Satele had given me. When I see her again, I'll have to thank her for her impeccable timing.

With a sneer, the Inquisitor lady activated her lightsaber at one end, the blade glowing a deep red and humming deeply, and charged me, attempted to stab at me. In response, I instantly activated the lightsaber I held, the green blade deflecting her attack with a hum higher in pitch than hers. I sliced down at her, and rather than block, she jumped into a backflip, avoiding my attack. From what I could see so far, she seemed to favor Form VII, also known as Juyo. I personally prefer Forms I and IV, Shii-Cho and Ataru respectively, when face large groups of troopers or other enemies. Against a fellow lightsaber and Force wielder, I'd go for Form V, Djem So.

Juyo focussed and aggressive and strong attacks, with the intent of overwhelming one's opponent to the point of either exhaustion, or where an opening can be created. Shii-Cho focused on landing attacks on the limbs, back, and head of the opponent with horizontal, vertical, and diagonal slashes. Ataru was more of a defensive Form for battling multiple people with ranged weapons. Djem So focused on deflecting blaster fire back at the opponent and solid blocks against lightsaber strikes, which quickly went into strong counter attacks. That's what I was using against this Inquisitor woman.

She made an attempt to decapitate me, but I managed to block the attack. In response, I balled a fist and landed a hit on her stomach. It may not have done much damage to her body, but it did manage to knock the air out of her lungs, and I took the opening to kick her a good distance away. As she got up, regaining her composure, she snarled at me, her anger clearly increasing. She brought several crates up with Telekinesis and threw them at me. They came at astonishing speeds. I jumped to the side to avoid the first few, sliced the next one in half, spun a kick on the next one, and Force Pushed the last few to the side.

Calling on the Force, and channeling my emotions, I thrust my arms out, sending bolts of silver lightning at the Inquisitor. She was visibly shocked by the strange power I'd just shown, but didn't let that break her focus, and she instantly brought up her saber, blocking the lightning. Well, not so much blocking as she was absorbing it into the blade. Of course, that would make the lightning dissipate to nothing within seconds, but she was still absorbing it. Seeing this going nowhere, I stopped the lightning. For a few very long seconds, we stared at each other intensely, before she decided to take me seriously. Holding her lightsaber out, she activated the second blade, making them spin.

"Brilliant." I sighed, readying my Djem So stance.

With a battle cry, she threw her spinning saber at me, hoping to make quick work of the remainder of this little duel. I ducked under the blades and threw my saber at her in response. Now, she'd have to call her saber right back to her in order to block that attack, meaning she couldn't bring the saber back around towards me with the Force instead. That was a common tactic amongst dualsaber wielders. As she caught her saber, she quickly deflected mine back at me, and I caught it with relative ease.

Without waiting for me to ready my stance again, she charged me. I rushed straight back at her, narrowly avoiding a downward slash from her blade. With the opening that created, r I slashed back at her, which she didn't manage to dodge completely, taking a gash to her shoulder. Even if it was a small glaze, it was still from a lightsaber, and that hurts like hell. I would know. Anyway, she let out a pained scream, clutching her arm as she glared at me with intense rage.

I attacked before she could, taking advantage of her momentary lapse in focus. Unfortunately, she regained it in time to block the horizontal slice from from my blade, pushing me back. She retaliated by jumping up, spinning towards me in attempt to deliver a diagonal slash, which probably would have sliced my chest open had I backstepped to avoid the blade. To put a little distance between us, I Force Pushed her before she managed to hit the ground again, sending her back several metres. Now practically glowing with rage, she charged me once more, holding her lightsaber out in front of her with the blades spinning.

Big mistake.

As she neared me, I readied my stance one more time, preparing to deliver the final strike. She was just barely and arm's length away from me when I thrust forward and then slashed right up. Where did I hit you might ask? When I shot forward with my blade, I stopped when the tip went through the space in between the handle and emitter ring. When I slashed upwards, I cut right through the emitter ring, which disrupted the circuits of the entire blade, causing a miniscule explosion in the Inquisitors hands. Said explosion sent the lightsaber flying in two separate directions, in two separate pieces.

"Game over." I said darkly, grabbing her by the throat with the Force. Wasting no time, and maintain my grip on her throat, I sent her flying back into a nearby wall, the brought her back towards me and into a pile of crates. Following that, I threw her into another wall, this time hearing a loud crack echoing through the air. Now, I'm not tossing her around like a ragdoll out of pure sadism, I have a reason. Reason being, if one is strong enough in the Force, they can break free from another's grip, if they concentrate hard enough. I can tell that she is extremely powerful; but for some reason she prefers using a lightsaber. Not uncommon, but whatever. I was throwing her around to keep her too occupied with the pain she felt to break free, that way I could finally end this little duel. And now that I've broken something, I can do just that.

Steeling myself, I brought her back towards me once more. As she flew through the air, completely limp and barely conscious, I readied my blade for one last strike. When she was close enough, she barely managed to look up at me, fear evident in her eyes. My eyes however, were only cold when she looked into them, and that clearly scared her more. Without a second thought, I drove my blade through her heart. Her eyes widened, but lost the life within them within seconds, and she fell to the ground, dead.

Out of respect for a worthy opponent, I closed her eyes, giving a small mutter. "Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la." I whispered. It was a Mandalorian phrase to honor the departed.

"Freeze!" The commanding Stormtrooper ordered as the small army that still surrounded me aimed their blasters at me.

"Shit." I cursed in a deadpanned tone. Wow, I just can't even find in myself to be afraid or angry. Just deadpan, blunt, disbelief at the fact that I forgot there was a small arm of Stormtroopers still ready to take me down. I just… I just can't… Just, wow.

"Put your hands where we can see them." He ordered, stepping forward. I let yet another sigh, and was about to just that, when all of a sudden, a shadow loomed over us. Everybody, myself included, looked up to see what it was, and I couldn't help but grin.

"T7, you magnificent machine you." I grinned widely. Hovering above us was a beautiful ship that looked like the Millenium Falcon and a TIE Interceptor had a baby. It was the Fury Class Imperial(Formerly) Interceptor, the last of it's kind, and boy was it a fantastic ship. It sported four high powered laser cannons, two on either side, and missiles. It also had military grade shielding, which I'd upgraded to match today's tech, as I did with the weapons. Finally, to make it look less Imperial, I gave it a new paint job. It was now mostly black with a red stripe along the wings' length. That had cost quite a bit, given its size of 100 metres long, 88 metres wide, and 33 metres high, but I consider the price to be well worth it.

Now, behold _The Huntress!_

"Blast it!" The commanding trooper barked. In an instant, all troopers had their weapons on the Huntress, but her shields were far too advanced to be affected by simple blasters, even 50 or so of them, and the blasts were absorbed by the shields. In response, the weapons on either side of the ship aimed towards the troopers, humming to life.

"You're all in trouble now!" I grinned widely, running for cover. As soon as I turned a corner, The Huntress let loose on those Imperials, taking out a squadron's worth with each shot.

"Retreat!" The commanding officer ordered, barely loud enough to hear. "Everybody get to the AA-AHH!" You know what? I'm just going to pretend I didn't just hear that guy do the Star Wars scream when he got shot…

"T7, open the ramp!" I said, activating my earpiece.

" _T7 = on it!"_ He responded, turning the ship around 180 degrees, and opening the ramp. Making sure I was safe from any rogue fire, I focussed the Force and jumped as high as I could, just barely managing to make it to the top of the docking port building. From there, I took a leap off of the edge and landed, with a light stumble, on the open ramp, running straight towards the cockpit.

"T7, get the Hyperdrive ready!" I called out to him as I ran towards the bridge, finding the Astromech standing, so to speak, at one of the terminals, his computer interface arm plugged in.

"T7 = Happy to see Partner!" He beeped happily as I sat in the pilot's seat. The bridge featured three chairs; a pilot's seat on the left hand side of the cockpit, a co-pilot's seat on the right, and a Captain's chair in the centre, which had a Star Map displayed in front of it.

"Good to see you too buddy." I smiled at him as he handed over the piloting to the pilot's seat. Now he was focusing on the Hyperdrive, and I was piloting. "You may want to hang on, we've got a bumpy ride ahead." I warned him, hearing several ties approaching. As I steered the Huntress towards the sky, I flipped a switch by my seat which extended the Strike foils on the wings, thus increasing maneuverability, agility, and weapons' range. "Let's dance." I grinned, seeing a squadron of TIEs incoming.

Timing the shots as best I could, I hit the weapons keys on the ship's controls, firing the green bolts of energy at TIE Fighters. Several of them, less than half, did not survive my blasts, and the remaining TIEs flew right past me, their blasts doing little damage to the Huntress' shields. After flying past me, they all did full 180 turns, chasing after me, when I suddenly felt the Huntress tremor a little.

"Damage report T7!" I ordered the droid, avoiding more shots.

"Damage = minimal. / Shields = 92%." He responded.

"Good." I smirked as we started to clear the atmosphere, the Imperials following. I was glad the Empire didn't have a Blockade around this planet; I'd be screwed otherwise. Still, I can't make a Hyperspace jump whilst dodging all these TIEs, so I'd have to get rid of them.

Smirking, I upped the speed of the Huntress, putting a good distance between them and myself. Then, I pushed forward on the control, sending the Huntress into a forward flip motion, stopping after 180 degrees. I was now facing all the incoming TIEs upside down, but it felt completely normal because of the artificial gravity. I still spun the Huntress until I was right way up though; made the targeting easier. Anyway, I shot the Huntress forwards, firing missiles at the TIEs. The missiles have their own targeting systems, so they should hit. I only shot five of them though, as I do have limited ammo when it comes to the missiles. My laser cannons just need power, and I've got plenty of that.

Continuing, the missiles all hit their targets, taking out five TIEs, and extra one because two of them were in close proximity for one reason or another. That left only two more of the Fighters. I'd have to take them out before reinforcements arrive, which I have little doubt are on their way, if I want to make the jump. That in mind, I focussed the targeting system on the closest Fighter, waiting for it to align. When it did, I took it down in one shot, as I did with the last one.

"Alright T7, punch it!" I called out to my mechanical friend, who let out an affirmative bleep in response as I steered the Huntress to face empty space. Within seconds, we'd jumped into Hyperspace, just as we heard more TIEs approaching. "Oh thank the Gods." I sighed, slumping in my seat.

"Get away = successful!" T7 said cheerfully.

"Yes, yes it was T7." I chuckled.

"Destination = Nar Shadaa. / Nar Shadaa = many Bounty Hunters = good hiding place from Empire." He informed, pulling his interface arm from the terminal.

"Good thinking Buddy." I said, turning the seat I was in to face him.

"T7 = curious. / Partner = new weapon?" he asked, rolling up to me. Oh yeah, I have the new lightsabers. He must have seen me use the green one against the now dead Inquisitor lady. Taking them off of my belt, I looked at T7 with a tired grin.

"Boy do I have a story for you T7." I chuckled.

* * *

On the Ghost, the Spectres were sitting/standing around the Holo-projector that was built into the Dejarik board, watching a recording the mysterious Mandalorian Force Wielder as he faced the Inquisitor woman on Alderaan; the planet they were currently en route to in Hyperspace.

"OK, I figured this guy was gonna be good after finding out he stole a Holocron from the Empire, but this is more than I expected." Ezra said as the Ghost crew watched a holo-recording of the mysterious Mandalorian Force User battling an Inquisitor. "And how many more Inquisitors are we going to have to deal with?" He asked with a sigh.

"Don't know, but he's clearly more skilled than we thought." Hera agreed, watching the recording contemplatively. She, along with everyone else in the room, couldn't help a grimace forming on their faces as they watched him toss the woman around like a rag doll and then run her through.

"Some of us don't have the luxury of sight anymore…" Kanan grumbled, crossing his arm impatiently.

"Oh, uh, right." Hera cleared her throat, feeling a little embarrassed and somewhat ashamed. The crew had yet to get used to the fact that Kanan was blind now. "They both fight ruthlessly, but carefully. After he destroys her lightsaber, he tosses her around, slamming her into walls with the Force." She said uncomfortably.

"Not an uncommon tactic when facing another Force User; the pain prevents them from breaking free." Kanan explained. "What else."

"Well, he just runs her right through the heart, and that's when the recording ends." Hera informed uncomfortably. She's taken lives before, with her blaster and her ship's cannons, but the way this Mandalorian looked right into the Inquisitor's eyes when he killed her unsettled her a little.

"Whoever this guy is, he clearly doesn't care for the pacifistic nature of the Jedi." Sabine remarked bluntly.

"What forms is he using?" Kanan asked of his Padawan, apparently ignorant to Ezra's light bitterness towards him.

"It looks like a mix of Form I and Form V, with a little bit of Form IV thrown in." The teen answered.

"And you said he had a green lightsaber?" Kanan asked of Hera.

"Yes." The pilot confirmed. "Can't get a very good look at it's design unfortunately."

"Guys, there's more in the recording." Sabine chimed in, making everyone focus on the holo-projection, which had frozen at the point where the man runs the Inquisitor through.

" _What you just witnessed was the brutal murder of the 12th Sister, the last of the Inquisitors; a noble group of Force Wielding individuals who loyally served the Emperor."_ A reporter's voice, the same one as last time, said in a sad sounding tone. Everyone on the ship rolled their eyes at his sentence, but couldn't deny that they were relieved to hear that the last of the Inquisitors were gone. _"This Mandalorian insurgent is now to be considered a dangerous enemy of the Empire, and a Bounty of 500 000 credits will be given to anyone who brings him to the Empire alive, 50 000 if he's dead."_ The reporter continued.

Sabine let out a whistle. "500 000 credits. That's an impressive bounty." She said, impressed by this individual. "And if the Empire's willing to drop it to 10%, they must want him alive badly." She noted.

"Sounds like my kinda guy." Zeb grinned, leaning back. Anyone who stuck it to the Empire this intensely was alright in his books.

"We have to be careful when we meet him though." Kanan spoke up, his arms crossed in thought. "He's clearly a very skilled warrior, but his talents are full of intense emotion; he's no Lightsider." He said with a frown.

"Kanan, not everyone who uses The Force can be a Jedi." Hera told the Knight.

"Believe me, I know." Kanan sighed, remembering Ahsoka, and the conversations they had about their experiences as Jedi Padawans.

"So where do we go now?" Ezra asked as the holo-recording deactivated. "He left Alderaan, so we won't find him there."

"Kid's right." Zeb agreed.

"Well, where does any Bounty Hunter go to avoid being caught?" Kanan asked. As he finished his sentence, everybody turned their attention to Sabine, who gave them all a blunt look.

"Really?" She deadpanned.

"You used to be a Bounty Hunter." Ezra pointed out. "So, where would you go to hide if the Empire was after you?" he inquired. Sabine really couldn't put up any kind of argument there, so she decided to just answer, thinking of a way to get back at the young Jedi student at a later date.

"Ketsu and I would usually hide on Ord Mantell or Nar Shadaa. Mantell had plenty of mountain space to hide a ship, and on Nar Shadaa it was easy to disappear into the crowds." She explained.

"You think this guy would go to either of those?" Hera asked.

"I think Nar Shadaa is probably our best bet." The young Mandalorian said thoughtfully. "It has no Imperial presence and belongs to the Hutts, so it's the ideal between the two." She reasoned.

"Valid." Hera agreed.

"So does that mean Nar Shadaa is our next stop?" Zeb asked.

"I think so." Kanan answered.

"Chopper." Hera called out to the astromech, who was currently in the cockpit, with her communicator. "Adjust course. We're headed for Nar Shadaa." She instructed him. She received a few woots of affirmation from the astromech.

"Will he still be there when we arrive?" Ezra asked in uncertainty. This guy does seem to move around a lot.

"Most likely." Sabine answered before anyone else could make a speculation. "It'll be awhile before the Empire calms down, if they do at all. My guess is he'll be stay on Nar Shadaa for a few weeks before leaving. B then, he'd be able to get around a little easier." She guessed.

"Well, Nar Shadaa's a big moon. Let's hope we can find him before he leaves." Kanan said. The crew nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **OK, so I've been thinking about my WotC stories lately, and came to a decision; the titles are BORING. Seriously, I just put 'WotC' in front of whatever universe the story takes place in. Bland. Just plain bland and boring. So, I'll be changing the title to something a little more interesting and fun soon enough. Might have already. And I'll also be doing so for the rest of my WotC stories.**

 **Now that that's out of the way…**

 **What did you guys think of the chapter? I thought it would be fun to have Satele Shan in the story, and decided to introduce her early. She'll basically be to Michael what Bendu was to Kanan and Ezra; a source of wisdom, occasional mentoring, and a friend. She'll make a several appearances throughout the story. The addition of her lightsabers was just something to spice up the story a little. I'm thinking of having the Rebels encounter Michael whilst he looks for a new crystal for the dualsaber.**

 **Also, what do you guys think of my choice of Michael's ship? I wanted to give him something unique, something no one else has, and went with a ship from SWTOR; the Fury-class Interceptor. I figured since it was a favorite amongst the Sith at that point, it must be a good ship.**

 **Anywho, reviews are always appreciated.**

 **See ya!**


	3. Nar Shadaa

I sat on my knees, meditating, on the floor of the Captain's quarters on the Huntress, which had been docked in one of Nar Shadaa's bays that weren't often used by the Empire, so the odds of them finding me were slim. It's been two weeks since I took down that Inquisitor lady, and boy was the Empire mad. They put a bounty on my head for 500 000 credits. Honestly, I'm kinda flattered they think I'm dangerous enough to warrant such a bounty. They even gave me a cool nickname, The Unseen, since they didn't know what I was called. It was funny because they can't see my face on anything that has a screen, be it a holo-projection, an HUD system, or a holo-image. Any form of visual media recorded with me in it whilst I have my visor on scrambles my face in the data. That's why I love it so much.

Of course, all this only started after I'd exposed myself as Force-sensitive…

Ah well, no point in regretting what can't be helped. It's certainly better than Palpatine having that Holocron.

Anywho, I was meditating in my quarters because I literally have nothing else to do. Several objects, my lightsabers, the Holocron, my clothing, pencils, and paper, were all floating around the room in resonance with my energy. A faint aura of red mist coated my body, my eyes emitting a bright purple glow as I opened them. As I did so, a light tap resounded from the closed door.

"Enter, T7." I said out loud, dissipating the aura as my door opened, revealing a newly painted T7-O1, mostly silver now with golden accents. He so loved shiny colours. "What do you need?" I asked of him.

"Holocron origin = identified. / Origin = Voss." He informed, holding my other Holocron, a bronze coloured cube, with one of his 'hands.' I'd managed to tamper with it so it would accept T7, and not blow up whenever the astromech tried to use it.

"Voss?" I asked in surprise, using telekinesis to bring the purple octahedron Holocron to my hands. "I didn't know they made Holocrons." I mused.

"Voss = never make Holocrons. / Holocron = one of a kind." T7 explained in response.

"Why would they make a single Holocron?" I wondered. The Voss were almost extinct at this point in time. Long ago, there was a huge conflict in the Galaxy that devastated the planet, and killed thousands of Voss and Gormak, the two species that inhabited the planet Voss. One would be hard pressed to find a member of either species today, but it's exactly impossible.

"Holocron = made by Voss. / Owner = unknown." T7 answered my question.

"Is it safe to use?" I asked cautiously, staring at the purple holocron in my hand.

"Safety = unknown. / T7's guess = probable. / Partner = resilient." I smiled at the compliment. T7 was one of the few people, so to speak, whom I could bear seeing such a bubbly attitude in. Normally such a personality would bug me to no end, but when T7 does it, I can't help but smile.

"Well then, with you cheering me on, how can I fail?" I asked with a smile, petting the peppy droid. He gave a light purr at the contact before I focussed on the purple Holocron. "Alright then, here we go." I said, taking a breath. T7 rolled back to give me some space to do my work, but stayed in my room to watch.

I quieted my mind, blocking out everything but my inner senses, which I used to reach out to the Holocron. Opening a Holocron is very easy once you've already done it once, with the same Holocron. However, opening a new Holocron is not always that simple. It took me days to open the bronze cube Holocron that my mother gave me before she disappeared. I'm fairly certain this one won't take as long though.

Fairly…

I channelled various different emotions through the Force and into the Holocron. I started out with something simple, desire for knowledge, passion for those I see as family, though they are few, grief for my deceased father, anger for what the Empire has put my people through, and sorrow for the semi-deceased Anakin Skywalker, who was a good friend of my mother's. I'd only met him a handful of times when I was two or three.

None of this seemed to work, so I focussed on more intense emotions. Hatred for Emperor Palpatine, who was the source of all the pain and suffering in the Galaxy. Elation at the fact that I'd dealt Palpatine a heavy blow by taking the Holocron. Fury towards Clan Varad, my clan, who supported the Empire without a second thought. Lust for revenge against one Admiral Thrawn, who'd pulled the trigger of the blaster that killed my father.

After an hour or so of meditation, the Holocron finally seemed to be opening. The purple glow that it gave brightened immensely, matching the glow that my eyes took whenever I was deep enough in meditation, like I am now. In fact, the Holocron's glow was bright enough to quell the red mist the coated my body, and I grinned, seeing the six corners of the diamond shaped Holocron twist and float a few centimetres from the device, which was hovering above my hand. I wasn't surprised when a holographic figure appeared above the device, but rather at _who_ appeared.

"Behold, the teachings of Darth Revan, Lord of the Sith, and Jedi Knight." A woman with dark brown hair and deep yellow eyes said calmly. She wore traditional black and red Sith robes, with a hood over her head, just barely showing enough hair for me to see the colour, and he had a lightsaber on her hip. "This Holocron contains knowledge and secrets that will guide whoever holds this device to a state of content balance with the Force." She went on to explain, though I only heard half of it.

This Holocron belonged to Revan, THE Darth Revan, the Jedi Knight who kicked Mandalorian ass, fell to the Dark Side, kicked Jedi ass, lost her memories, came back to the Light, kicked Sith ass, regained her memories, and ran out of ass to kick, so she settled down. People always thought Revan was a man, and canonically, she was supposed to be. So I don't know why he is a she here, but I'm not going to question that. I'm still shocked at the fact the I'm holding a Holocron with Darth Fucking Revan's knowledge in it.

Wait, Revan was supposed to have married Bastila Shan and had a child with her, creating the bloodline Satele Shan, and by extension, myself, were apart of. If Revan was a woman here, they may have still married, but how did they have a child? Apparently, there is a way to manipulate the Force within the womb of a woman if the connection between the two is powerful enough, essentially fertilising one of the woman's egg cells with the 'essence' of the other. I'm willing to bet this is where Darth Plagueis got his idea to manipulate the 'midi-chlorians,' ugh, with the Force. I mean, it's clearly possible; it's how Vader was conceived. Of course, it was never really explained if Plagueis really did conceive Anakin with the Force, or if it was the Force itself.

Digression aside, it's definitely possible that everything Revan's story says is accurate, just change the part where he is a man, to him being a her. Assuming she and/or Bastilla were powerful enough and in love enough to perform the impregnation ritual, which I have no doubt they were, then it would still be completely plausible.

Still, I'll worry about that another day. Right now, I want to geek out over this little discovery I've made of this Holocron.

"T7, this is amazing!" I squealed like a giddy school girl, grinning maniacally. "I just hit the Force secret jackpot!" I said excitedly.

"T7 = in agreement! / Revan = very powerful and wise! / Potential knowledge = limitless!" T7 seemed to match my excitement.

"It's more than that T7." I responded, closing the Holocron, allowing it to fall to my palm. "Revan is also my ancestor, which explains why I was the only one who could get it out it's prison." I realised, wanting now more than ever to laugh in Palpatine's face at the blunder he made, letting me get a hold of this device. "Imagine the rituals, lightsaber techniques, and Force powers I could learn from this thing. I'd be able to obliterate Vader." I grinned like a crazy person. Not that I would; he needs to die as Anakin Skywalker, that's something I'll be sure not to change. "It appears I have some studying to do." I said excitedly, kneeling on the ground again and re opening the Holocron. Class starts now~

* * *

"Within emotion, there is peace. Within ignorance, there is knowledge. Within passion, there is serenity. Within Chaos, there is harmony. Within death, there is the Force." I chanted under my breath as I meditated, following the beginnings of Revan's teachings. All that says, all that she demonstrated, I soaked up like a sponge. She preached a sense of balance with the Force that was so much more refined than mine. She spoke of how darkness and light are both two parts of the same whole, and how denying one of them is unnatural. She said that the Force shouldn't even be considered as a source of light or darkness; that the Force is just that, the Force. Darkness and light are within the individual, and it's their choices that lead them to either path. "There is no Dark, without a Light. Passion, gives focus. Knowledge, gives power. Serenity, gives strength. Harmony, gives victory. A single chain shall be my tether, for there is only the Force." I continued with the other half of the chant.

Both were derived from the Jedi and Sith codes, as I'm sure you can see. The first one guides a person through the ways of the Light Side, without denying oneself emotion and various other aspects of life that the Jedi once prohibited, granting peace unlike any other. The second one guides through the ways of the Dark Side, showing that the Darkness is just that, the Darkness. It's only evil if you make it that way. This way, one can embrace the Darkness without the destructive and violent nature of the Sith, granting freedom that You've never felt before. Follow the first half of the code, and you'll find the peace that the Jedi seek, as well as the Light Side. Follow the second half, and you'll find freedom that the Sith seek, as well as the Dark Side. Follow both, and you'll have a sense of balance, freedom, and peace without any Darkness or Light. Just the Force.

I've been going at it for days, but it's clearly a lot harder than Revan makes it out to be. Jedi Masters could take years to find the spiritual peace the sought, even decades. Some never found it at all. I'm fairly certain that it's a safe assumption that this balance thing is just as, if not more, difficult than spiritual peace. As I am now, I'm far more in tune with the Dark Side than I am with the Light. I've been able to use the Force is a manner that warrants neither, like the silver lightning. It's called Balanced Judgment; a variation of Force Lightning that uses neither darkness, nor light. Just pure determination and willpower, something both Lightsiders and Darksiders are capable of.

Knowledge of the Force isn't all that's in the Holocron.

Revan gave a long lecture about lightsabers and their crystals, and how each crystal can have a different effect on the lightsaber's blade and power. Heck, she even said what colour each crystal she knows of would give the blade. That actually helped me start with getting a crystal for Satele's double bladed lightsaber. She spoke of the Krayt Dragon Pearls, Dahgee Crystals, and Dantari Crystals. I'm actually meeting up with a Smuggler here on Nar Shadaa later this afternoon to see if he has a Dantari Crystal.

She also gave what I chalked up to glorified history lessons, basically recalling all of her adventures as both a Sith and Jedi, and how she came to be the balanced individual she died as. She confirmed my theory that she and Bastilla were together, and that they manipulated the Force to the point were Revan impregnated Bastilla with her 'essence.' She even spoke of her Jedi trials. I didn't really go all that deep into this part of the Holocron's database.

What I thoroughly enjoyed perusing through were the star maps that the Holocron gave. Seriously, it was far more intricate and elegant than the one my ship has in the cockpit, in front of the captains chair. It even showed the locations of tombs that various Jedi and Sith were laid to rest in. Might visit one or two of them some time in the future. And the rituals Revan knew… Just, wow.

"Partner = exhausted." T7's bleeps and boops of a voice snapped my attention towards him. Oh, he was still here?

"T7, how long have you been here?" I asked in confusion, momentarily ignoring the droid's observation.

"T7 = never left." He said in his version of deadpan.

"Oh, well…" I trailed off awkwardly. "Sorry. I got a little buried in Revan's teachings…" I said bashfully. Why the hell am I getting embarrassed in front of a droid?

"Partner = loves knowledge. / Holocron = very old and unique knowledge. / T7 = understands." T7 bleeped chirpily. "Partner = still needs rest. / Partner's face = pale. / Partner's eyes = baggy." He told me, bringing a mirror out of his body on one of those limbs. Where the hell did he get a mirror?!

Still, he was right. I didn't realise it until now, but I'm exhausted. My face really was pale, and dark blue bags had developed under my eyes. Yeah, enough of Revan's teachings for today. "Alright then." I stood up, giving a quick stretch. Yeah, I'm tired. "I'll take a nap before heading out to meet that Smuggler. You mind waking me up in about three hours Buddy?" I asked him.

"3 hours = insufficient." he protested. "T7 = wake up partner in 6 hours." He decided.

"I have to meet up with this guy in five hours T7." I said tiredly, using the force to remove all of my armour, leaving me in my pants and shirt. "I was hoping to have some time to go through the Holocron again, but how about we make it four hours? That's the highest I'm willing to go." I said firmly. A moment of silence passed before T7 responded.

"Bargain = acceptable. / Partner = sleep for 4 hours." He agreed, rolling out of my room without another word, or bleep, as it were. With a light chuckle of amusement, I fell into my bed with a content sigh. Yeah, nothing like a soft bed after many hours of intense studying. I can already feel my consciousness leaving.

Blissful~

* * *

"This should be inconspicuous enough, don't you think T7?" I asked the astromech, admiring my new outfit. T7 suggested I wear something other than my Mandalorian gear because of the Bounty on my head. Nobody knows what my face looks like, mainly due to my Changeling abilities and the tech in my visor, but my armour could give me away. So, I went with a simple black tunic that I wore over a white long sleeved shirt, dark combat pants that had several pockets, and simple boots and gloves. I added in some armour padding on my shoulders and chest, just for some extra precautions. I had my blasters strapped to my hips, and my lightsabers, the green one Satele gave me and the one I built myself, hidden in my sleeves, strapped to my arms for emergencies. Satele's dualsaber I left behind, as it's hardly any use without a crystal. There was one last lightsaber I had in my possession, hidden in a compartment close to my bed, that I never touched. It belonged to my mother before she disappeared.

Finally, I changed my hair and eyes with my Changeling powers. My hair was now stark white, with crimson red tips, and my eyes were an awesome dark red too, not unlike the color of blood. Not be vain, but I looked like a badass.

"T7 = approve!" The droid chirped. "Partner = a new person." He said, almost in awe.

"I'm glad you like it." I said with a smile as I placed an earpiece in my ear, since I won't be using my visor. "I'll be back later. Hopefully, I'll have a new job for us and a crystal for the lightsaber." I said as I approached the ramp, which T7 opened.

"T7 = promise to keep ship safe!" He called out to me as I left the ship.

"Thanks buddy!" I returned. "Now to find that bar…" I said to myself, checking the holo-display of the area that I had with me. Oh, it's just around the corner. Literally. Neat. That means the walk won't be all that long, and I can grab a drink before having to meet with this guy. And look at that, I'm already there, right in front of a sign that says 'Nar Shadaa Port Bar.' Oh, I didn't know this was where I docked. I've been at this bar several times before.

As I entered the bar, I looked around for the guy I'm supposed to be meeting. I should be able to identify him by his clothing and companion, but apparently he's not here right now. That's not a bad thing; I can a drink then. Walking over to the bar itself, I took a seat and waited for the bartender to come along. It wasn't long before he approached.

"Ah, young Michael! What can I get for you?" Jhak, the Ithorian bartender, asked of me as he approached.

"Hey Jhak." I smiled in greeting. "You still have the Mantellian Sunrise?" I asked with a grin.

"Coming up!" He said, grabbing a tall glass mug, pouring in the necessary beverages for my favourite cocktail. It was surprising how much bars in this universe are similar to the bars back in my home-universe. It was also surprising how much Jhak loved his job. "Here you go." He said, placing the tall glass, now filled with transparent yellow liquid. "One Mantellian Sunrise." He said, giving the glass a small flick. Instantly, the liquid in the glass took on a golden glow, making it look like molten gold in a glass. "Enjoy." He said with a smile. Well, his people's version of a smile anyway.

"I will, thank you." I responded politely, sipping the drink. Mmm, fruity, sweet, sour, and the familiar burn of the throat that comes with alcohol, is it any wonder why I love this drink?

"So, who are you meeting here?" He asked, leaning over the counter. "Another lady friend?" he asked teasingly, making me roll my eyes. Jhak's the kinda guy who'll never let you live anything down if he finds it funny, and apparently me bringing a lady or two to my ship every now and again is one of those things.

"Unfortunately, I am not playing the role of gentleman caller tonight, Jhak." I replied, sipping my drink. "I need to get my hands on a some type of crystal, and I'm meeting with someone here today to negotiate a purchase." I explained.

"What kinda crystal?" he asked curiously.

"There's no one type of crystal I need." I shrugged. "Kyber crystal, Hurrikaine crystal, Lava crystal, they'll all serve the purpose I need it for." I told him.

"Interesting…" He trailed off, narrowing his eyes in thought. Suddenly, they widened. "Don't look, but there are Imperials coming along this way." He whispered, moving towards the mugs and glasses. Well, fuck.

"Are they coming this way?" I asked him softly. He shook his head. Hm, ok then… I wonder what they're doing?

"Hey, you Michael Shan?" A voice pulled me from my thoughts. I faced the owner, finding a young man wearing a white long sleeved shirt, a black vest, dark pants and boots, and a blaster at his hip. He held an air of confidence, borderline arrogance, and would strike one as they type to care only about himself; his companion and ship being the only exceptions.

"I am. You never did tell me your name in our correspondences though." I responded, though I already had an inkling as to who this guy was, as well as his companion.

"Name's Han Solo. This is Chewbacca." He introduced, pointing to himself and his Wookie friend, who let out a growl. "He says-"

"Call him Chewie." I cut him off with a smirk, which he returned.

"So, you need a Dantari crystal?" He asked, taking a seat beside me. Chewie stayed standing.

"I need a crystal." I told him. "What kind of crystal isn't that important. It just so happens that Dantari falls under the category I could use." I explained.

"Whatever." He shrugged. "So long as you got the credits, I don't care what you use it for." He told me, happily accepting the mug that jhak gace him. No doubt he's a regular here too.

"Yes, I have your credits." I told him, pulling a metal box out of my tunic. It was about the size of a blaster, squared of course, and deep enough to fit a nice amount of credits in it. "2000 credits, as we agreed." I said as he opened the box, grinning widely at the sight.

"Chewie." He called out to the Wookie, who pulled out a box about the same size as the one I just gave Han from his pouch. Opening it, he showed me the contents; one purple hued Dantari crystal, and one crimson red. "Take your pick." He told me with a cocky smirk. Hm, I've seen this tactic before… You offer the client one of two very good products and/or services, both at the same price, and hope that they can't choose which, resulting in them buying both, doubling the profit. That might work on other people, but not me. Besides, even if I did want both, I don't have use for two crystals. Not without constructing another saber. I already have four.

"Thank you very much." I smirked, taking the red crystal. Scowling slightly, he closed the box and gave it back to Chewie, who put it in his pouch.

"You three, humans and a Wookie." a voice suddenly spoke to us, the accent heavily Imperial. We turned to see a man in a black Imperial uniform, with short blond hair and light brown eyes. "I have a few questions. Answer them, and things will continue as normal." He told us.

"An introduction would be nice though." I told him in monotone, turning back to my drink. With an eyeroll and a scoff, the man showed us a datapad, which displayed on image of, guess who, me, with my head pixelated thanks to my visor's tech, wearing my Mando gear, and wielding a green lightsaber. "I am Agent Kallus. Have you seen this man?" He asked, sounding impatient. I couldn't help but smirk at the irony of him asking me if I'd seen me recently.

"I can't say I have." I answered. Technically, I wasn't lying. I hadn't seen myself killing an Inquisitor, now had I? "Although it might be easier to identify him without the pixelated face. What's with that?" I asked in mock confusion.

"Scrambling tech." Agent Kallus explained, scowling yet again. "He wore a visor in place of the typical helmet, so none of the surveillance was able to get a good look at him. Even the HUD in the Stormtrooper's helmets weren't exempt." He said, frowning as he looked at the image. "All we know for certain is that he has black hair." he added.

"Well, I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help." I said with false regret before turning to Han and Chewie. "Either of you seen this guy?" I asked.

"Nope. Sorry." Han shrugged, sipping his drink. Chewie replied with a negative growl.

"Well, if any of you see him, report to the nearest Imperial you can find. There's a 500 000 credit Bounty for the Unseen if you bring him to the Empire alive." Han let out an impressed whistle at the Agent's words.

"500k? That's a big Bounty." He observed.

"Awesome nickname too." I added.

"What of these people?" Kallus asked in a snap, getting more impatient as he showed us another image. This image was split up six ways, showing five people and one droid. An old C1 series astromech. A Twi'lek woman with green skin wearing a pilot's suit. A young man, mid 20's to early 30's, with brown hair tied back into a ponytail and teal eyes, wearing a green tunic and shoulder paddings. A large, muscular cat-ape guy with green eyes and purple fur, a Lasat, I believe. A kid with long blue hair and electric blue eyes, wearing some kind of orange jumpsuit. Finally, a Mandalorian girl with blue and green hair and light brown eyes, her armour having been painted with intricate orange and magenta patterns and images.

Ah, the Ghost crew; Chopper, Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus/Caleb Dume, Garazeb Orrelios, Ezra Bridger, and Sabine Wren. Interesting. I didn't think I'd be running into them.

"Haven't seen them, sorry." Han shrugged. Chewie gave a growl of agreement. "Anyways, we gotta go. See ya around." He said with a two fingered salute, leaving credits for Jhak.

"Sorry to say I haven't seen them either." I said to the Agent in a fake regretful tone. "Why exactly are you searching for them, if I may ask?" i asked in curiosity, which was genuine this time.

"They are a group of insurgents called the Spectres, who stole an Imperial shuttle and landed here. We've been chasing them for some time." He explained, looking at the image with a thoughtful frown.

"Why would they steal a shuttle?" I asked in confusion.

"Their ship, the Ghost, has been labeled as a known insurgent vehicle. Nar Shadaa's Imperial presence may not be as abundant as other worlds, but if they flew that ship anywhere near here, the Empire would have been alerted. I can only assume that they stole the shuttle to prevent that." He told me, pocketing the datapad that displayed the image.

"And you have no clue as to what they want here?" I asked.

"No." He shook his head. "I can only assume they have contacts or resources here." He said thoughtfully. "If you see any of them, report to the first Stormtrooper you find. The reward is not as large as the Unseen's, but it's a decent sum nonetheless." he told me, turning away.

"Happy hunting Agent!" I called out to him, raising my glass. I could see the faintest smile of amusement on his face as he walked away. As soon as he was gone, Jhak returned.

"How you do that, I'll never know." he said tiredly.

"What?" I asked in amusement.

"Act so calm around the Empire." he responded bluntly.

"Well, he wasn't all that scary." I shrugged. After all, he is the new Fulcrum for the Rebels. At least, he should be by now. I felt Ahsoka's 'death' from across the Galaxy over a month ago. I don't really know what happened to her, as I never watched the 4th season of Star Wars Rebels, but I don't think Ahsoka's actually dead. I've been considering stopping by Malachor to check it out to be honest. Maybe grab some of those ancient lightsabers. I could use the parts to upgrade the lightsabers already in my possession.

"One has to be very capable and dangerous to become an Agent of the Empire, Michael." Jhak snapped me from my musings.

"True, but I'm also very capable and dangerous." I smirked. Jhak conceded that fact. He didn't know about my Force sensitivity, but he did know what I was capable of.

"Hey bartender, you got a Sonic Servodriver on the menu?" A tired voice asked as someone took a seat a chairs to my right.

"Coming up!" Jhak said cheerfully, walking away. It really baffles me how much this guy loves his job. I mean, I can understand being happy with your career, but they way he perks up whenever someone orders a cocktail is really strange. I guess he just loves mixing alcohol that much… Ah well, who am I to judge? "Not often we get a Mandalorian in here." Jhak said to the newcomer, catching my interest. A Mandalorian?

"Oh? Why is that?" The newcomer, a young girl about my age, asked. Her armour was painted with intricate purple and orange patterns, with a checkerboard design with a 5 on one shoulder pad, an owl-like creature on the other, and various other images and patterns. Her hair was white at the roots, but started darkening into darker shades of purple from the middle to the tips. Very interesting indeed.

"Well, this isn't an area Bounty Hunter's would usually want to come to, by Nar Shadaa's standards that is. Not dangerous enough. Any Mandos who come to this rock are usually Bounty Hunters." Jhak explained, mixing the necessary liqueurs for this girl's drink. I'm fairly certain I know who this girl is.

"I see." She hummed in thought as Jhak handed her the now finished cocktail. "Well, to be honest, the only reason I'm even in this area is because my crew's ship is fried." She admitted, sipping the drink with a content sigh.

"Really? What do you intend to do?" Jhak asked in interest. Another baffling thing is how he always feels the need to strike a conversation with people who come by his bar. Well, the ones he likes at least, like myself and this girl apparently.

"Well, we're too broke to buy a new ship, and I doubt we have the credits necessary to hire a pilot." She scowled, as if remembering something. "Last guy we spoke to was a little too personal with his price for a ride off this planet." She growled. Oh, I see what she's saying… Wow.

"Well, if you're really desperate, I'm sure young Michael here wouldn't mind giving you and your crew a ride." Jhak said, pointing to me. I gave him a light glare.

"How about you not make offers in 'young Michael's' stead, eh Jhak?" I asked with a frown. Seriously, does he not see that this girl was on the datapad Kallus just showed to Han and myself?

"Wait, what?" the girl asked.

"Come on Michael, you'd always help a fellow Mando, wouldn't you?" He asked slyly.

"I told you that in confidence." i sighed, finishing off my Mantellian Sunrise. "Refill please." I told him, sliding the glass to him. He caught it effortlessly and got to work. The girl scooched over a few seats and took the one next to me, staring quizzically.

"You're Mandalorian?" She asked skeptically.

"Not anymore." I shrugged. "I kept all my gear, but I'm not exactly a celebrity with my Clan." I sighed, happily taking the refill from Jhak, who went to his next customer.

"I can relate." The girl said knowingly. "[Sabine Wren, Clan Wren.]" She introduced herself, in Mando'a, as I flicked the glass I held, making the drink glow. She's testing me…

"[Michael Varad, Clan Varad.]" I introduced myself, replying in Mando'a as well. She suddenly seemed a lot more skeptical than before.

"[Clan Varad sided with the Empire when it formed.]" She said, giving me a suspicious stare.

"[Hence why I left.]" I replied, sipping my drink. "[The Empire has done the Galaxy few favors. Things are worse now than they were during the Clone Wars.]" I sighed.

"[No arguments here.]" Sabine said admittedly. "[But, why did you leave your Clan?]" She asked in confusion.

"[They were too loyal to the Empire.]" I shrugged. "[They shipped me off to the Imperial Academy when I was 15. The things I saw there, not pleasant.]" I shook my head. "[Not to mention the expected some things of me that I just wasn't willing to do, simply because I'm of Clan Varad.]" I sighed. "[So, I left. I usually where my armour like you, but it got damaged, and I'm in the middle of repairing it.]" I explained. Sabine didn't speak for a moment.

"Are you willing?" She finally asked, no doubt taking a leap of faith, and returning to Basic. She has her trust issues, I know that much about her character, but she's also desperate, as is her crew no doubt. "To help me and my crew?" She added.

"It depends on where you want to go and how far away it is." I responded honestly. "I have no love for the Empire, so I have no quarrels helping you get through one of their blockades or something like that, but I have things of my own to do." I told her.

"My crew and I stole an Imperial shuttle to get onto Nar Shadaa easier, but the ship was found, and now the Empire knows we're here. We left our ship on an abandoned Imperial station just a short way's off from Alderaan." She explained.

"Alderaan." I repeated, thinking. "Yeah, I can get you there. It'll be 36 hour trip by Hyperspace." I told her. She allowed a smile to don her face, but didn't let the excitement get to her head just yet.

"How much will it cost?" She asked. I could feel the fear running through her that I might ask too much.

"I don't need money." I waved her off. "Consider this a favor from one defected Mando to another." I told her, getting a shocked look.

"What?" She asked softly.

"I've been a Rebel sympathiser for some time, Ms Wren." I smirked in amusement when she spluttered in surprise. "I'd be more than willing to help you get to the Ghost." I added.

"H-how?" She asked in a hushed, but rather expressive stutter.

"I worked with Ahsoka several times in the past." I revealed, shocking her further. "I'm not exactly a Rebel myself, but I have assisted them in the past." I explained before she could ask.

"Alright, say I believe everything you just said." She said with narrowed eyes. "What's to stop you from contacting the Empire and collecting a Bounty?" she asked suspiciously.

"Are you aware that, not 10 minutes ago, an Imperial Agent calling himself Kallus came looking for you and your crew?" I responded to her question with a question. "If I just called out his name, I'm sure he'd hear it." I added. Sabine's eyes widened as she bit her lip in worry, the information clearly new to her. "Go talk with your crew about this all. I'm leaving Nar Shadaa in 12 hours, with or without you." I told her, leaving credits to pay for the drinks I'd bought.

With that, I got up and left, heading straight for the Huntress. All I can do now is wait to see if she and her crew will accept the offer.

I also find myself wondering if I should actually make an effort to join the Rebellion. I mean, I never considered it up until now. Maybe I can make a difference sooner than I thought.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. Really, this story is writing itself to be honest. I've had this whole thing in my head for ages, and I guess it's all just pouring out into my laptop. That's one of the main reasons why I've been more focussed on this story than others. I try to write for my DxD story, and all I can think about is this one. Next chapter will probably be out in two or three days, as that's where it gets** _ **really**_ **good, so I'll be eager to write.**

 **Quick question. There's a six month gap between season 2 and 3, currently it's been a about a month and a half since the season 2 finale in this story. Should I make it that, once Michael joins the Rebels, we skip to episode 1 of season 3? Or should I fill the gap with missions and other stuff, like an encounter with Vader or a surviving Jedi. Tell me in the reviews what you think!**

 **Also, just to clarify; Sabine doesn't know that Michael is the Force Sensitve Mando, AKA The Unseen, just yet. As far as she knows, The Unseen is a Mando in black armour,with dark hair, not a Mando in a black tunic and white shirt with silver hair and red eyes. Just wanted to make that clear.**


	4. Off We Go

Half and hour. That was all the time Sabine had to meet me here, just outside the Nar Shadaa Port Bar, if she wants me to give her and her crew a ride to the station close to Alderaan. I donned my now repaired Mandalorian armour in the hopes of showing her that I can be trusted. I even included the helmet. It took me two weeks to get everything in good enough condition to use. As an added bonus, I managed to purchase and airbrush to paint my armour a dull but nice grey shade, which should throw off any suspicion of me being the Unseen, if my current hair and eyes haven't already.

Taking a look at my armour, I was able to see just how different it was to Sabine's, and I don't mean colour. Her armour featured a small breast plate that just barely covered her upper torso, securing itself to her body by her neck, and not covering her back at all. She also had large, round shoulder pads, elbow pads that were a little smaller, and knee pads that were about the same size as the elbow pads. My armour consisted of a cuirass covering my entire torso, back and front, while leaving my arms exposed, with the exception of my shirt sleeves. The shoulder, elbow, and knee pads were about the same as Sabine's, but I also wore extra armour on my thighs, upper arms, boots, and gloves. To sum it up, my armour looked like that of Clan Kryze, with the exception of being solid grey, or black before, rather than the blue and white patterns. My helmet was of the same design as Sabine's, also grey.

"Michael? That you?" Sabine's familiar voice asked, gaining my attention. I faced her, seeing four individuals with her; the Ghost crew. Hera Syndulla and Garazeb Orrelios didn't look all that different from the image Kallus showed me yesterday. Kanan Jarrus however was now wearing a mask over his eyes, showing his blindness, and his beard had grown. Ezra Bridger now had a buzzcut, and his hair was darker, not to mention he was taller. I'm guessing that they left their droid, Chopper, on the Ghost.

"So, the gang's all here." I said, taking my helmet off. Sabine nodded in response.

"Hah! Nice hair Kid. Seems he's your type, eh Sabine?" The Lasat, Zeb, teased the young Mandalorian girl, who rolled her eyes with a good hearted smile, thoughshe did punch him in the shoulder. Seems this is common occurrence with her and the older Honor Guard Captain.

"Nice to meet you all. I am Michael Varad, Captain of the Huntress." I introduced myself. "I understand you need a lift to Alderaan? Or rather, a station near to it?" I inquired.

"Yes." Hera answered, looking me over, as if scanning me. "And we need to get to it without the Empire on our tail." She said, placing a hand on her hip.

"I can get you there easy enough." I assured her.

"Can someone explain to me why we're trusting this guy, whom Sabine has barely known for 12 hours?" Ezra asked, looking at me with no small amount of distrust. Understandable. He did live alone for who knows how many years on the streets. It's natural he'd have trust issues with some people. So with that in mind...

"By the light of Lothal's moons." I said, shocking everyone, even Sabine, who hadn't heard that from me yesterday.

"That's Ahsoka's code phrase…" Kanan spoke, his eyes no doubt wide even under his mask.

"You did mention that you knew Ahsoka…" Sabine remembered.

"Yes, Ahsoka and I were friends, and sometimes, allies." I told them. "She told me much about you, Ghost crew." I revealed. "Now, are you willing to trust me, or am I leaving this rock by myself?" I asked. The crew all shared still reluctant looks, making me sigh impatiently. "Ok then, this is how it's going to go." I said, putting my helmet back on. "I'm headed to my ship right now, and taking off. Anyone who wants to accompany may do so, while the rest stay here to be caught by Agent Kallus, who, might I add, just turned the corner of there." I said, pointing behind them before walking off. A collective, but hushed, gasp resounded through the air, just barely loud enough for me to hear, before Hera spoke again.

"Let's go." She said to the rest of her crew, who quickly followed her lead. As in, after me.

"Good choice." I said sarcastically as we approached the Huntress.

"Whoa, whoa, this is your ship?" Hera asked, grabbing my shoulder tightly, almost painfully, with childlike glee in her eyes.

"Yes, yes it is." I said, activating the comlink in my helmet. "T7, open the ramp, will you buddy?" I asked of the astromech, who bleep back an affirmative. Just seconds later, the ramp came down. "After you." I said with a gentlemanly bow.

"Oh my…" Hera said giddily, stepping towards the ship. What is with her?

"What's with her?" Zeb asked in confusion, voicing my thoughts.

"A shiny new ship." Kanan deadpanned as we all walked up the ramp.

"To be fair, it is an impressive vessel." Sabine conceded, taking in the corridor as we walked, arriving in the main room. "Could use a little more colour though." She said thoughtfully as I showed everyone to the couches, just to the right of the central Holo-terminal.

"An impressive vessel?" Hera asked of the girl incredulously. "Sabine, this is a Fury Class Interceptor! It was renowned as one of the greatest ships _ever_ made by the Empire in the time of the Old Republic!" She said giddily, eagerly taking in every square centimetre of the Huntress.

"She's right." I revealed, watching the Twi'lek woman with amusement. "Back in the day, this model was a favourite amongst the Sith. Now, it's the last of its kind. And she's mine." I said proudly.

"Wait, this is a Sith ship?" Ezra asked, suddenly uneasy.

"It was." I corrected him. "Until I stole it from the Imperial Academy." I said with a smirk, shocking them all. "Anyways, a small tour before we take off." I said, clearing my throat. I pointed to the door that lead to the cockpit. "That way is the bridge." I told them, shifting my focus to the corridor perpendicular to it. "In that direction is the Starboard Wing, which houses the Cargo bay, kitchen, and the Engine Room." Hera, not listening another word, shot towards the Engine room with speed that would make most Hyperdrive ships jealous. "Ok…" I said, not sure how to react to that.

"Just ignore it. She won't touch anything." Kanan sighed in exasperation. Well, I guess that must mean this has happened before.

"Continuing on then…" i trailed off, pointing to the room to the left of the Holoterminal, my room. "That is the Captain's Quarters, my room. Anyone who enters that room will be put to death." I warned with a bright smile, making everyone share an uneasy look. "Directly across from my room, is the Medical Bay." I said, pointing to the Med Bay. "And finally, the Port Wing, which houses the Crew Cabin and the Conference Room." I said, pointing at the door for the Port Wing. "I made some renovations some time ago, splitting the one big room with six bunks into three smaller rooms with two bunks. Take you pick if you want to get some rest, which I recommend. It's a 36 hour journey to Alderaan." I said, finishing up the tour.

"Wow, short, simple and efficient. Real great tour Kid." Zeb said, clapping sarcastically.

"Do you feel the need to explore a half empty Cargo Bay, a room with a bolto tank and beds, a room with a big engine, and a room with a big table, Garazeb?" I asked in response, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, well…" he trailed off, a hand on the back of his neck. "I suppose not." he chuckled awkwardly.

"Thought so." I rolled my eyes as T7 came rolling in from the cockpit.

"Partner = has guests? / T7 = not informed." he said, noticing the newcomers.

"Ah, T7. These guys are the Ghost crew, part of the Rebellion Ahsoka told us about." I told him. "Ghost crew, this is T7-O1, my only crew member." I introduced.

"How do you maintain a ship this size without a crew?" Ezra asked, more to himself than anyone else, as he looked around the room. "It's over twice the size of the Ghost." he murmured. I chuckled at his mumbling, turning to T7.

"Buddy, you mind brewing a pot of caff while I get the ship up and running?" I asked of him.

"T7 = on it!" He said cheerfully, turning and rolling on his way as I focussed back on the crew.

"If you want some, just go ahead and help yourself. He'll brew enough for everyone." I told them, and they nodded.

"He speaks with old Binary." Sabine observed. Yeah, astromech droids have two versions of the same language; old Binary, with all the = and + and whatnot, and then there's modern Droidspeak, which amounts to normal speech if you understand it.

"He was constructed over 150 years ago, before modern Droidspeak came into play." I explained.

"Ah." Sabine gave a single nod in understanding. With that, I headed for the bridge, only to find Hera fawning over the Star map and the pilot controls like it was the most precious gem she'd ever seen. I watched with an amused smile at the sight before a thought occurred to me."

"Wait, how did you get here? I thought you were in the Engine Room?" I asked in confusion.

"Look at this! The targeting systems are so simple, but so advanced! And the Star map looks like it could cover every star in the Galaxy! And, oh stars this amazing!" She squealed, sitting in the pilot seat.

"Please, make yourself comfortable." I said sarcastically, sitting in the captain's chair.

"I'm sorry, you cannot put me in front of this beautiful machine and not expect me to use it." Hera said, letting out a content sigh as she grabbed the controls.

"Fine." I sighed. Anyone else who tried to pilot my ship would be skinned alive and cooked by lightsaber by now, but Ahsoka has told me of Hera's ability as a pilot, which, despite my relative skill, probably surpasses my own by leaps and bounds. "I hope you realise that if my ship gets so much as a scratch, I'll lock you in the brig for the rest of the trip, capiche?" I asked her, inputting the co-ordinates I was provided with that lead to the Ghost's current position into the star map, which showed me where it was.

"Got it." Hera chuckled, slowly lifting off the ship from the platform. With expert level skill, she was able to fluidly get us out of the atmosphere, and right past the Imperial TIE station that orbited the planet. Once we were a good distance away, I got to work with the star map.

"Alright, inputting co-ordinates." I said, mostly to myself, as I worked. "And now, hello Hyperspace." I said with a satisfied smile. "Always my favourite part that." I said with a giddy grin, watching the space around us transition into the hyperspace 'tunnel' for lack of a better term.

"I agree wholeheartedly." Hera said with a wistful sigh, happily slumping in the pilot's seat. Man, what is it with this woman and ships? "Remind me, how did you get your hands on this, this _beauty?"_ She asked, marvelling at every little thing in the bridge.

"I stole her from the Imperial Academy when I ran away." I answered with a shrug.

"Imperial Academy?" She asked, turning her attention back to me.

"Clan Varad supports the Empire more than any other Clan on Mandalore, except maybe Clan Saxon. Every one of their youths are shipped of to the Academy at 15. I quickly decided that I didn't want to stay, and left. Took this lovely lady with me." I recounted, smiling widely as I ran a hand over the panel that the star map was projected from. I won't deny having a great love for my ship, but I'm not one of those guys who is practically more in love with his ship than he could be with a woman.

"She is a marvel." Hera agreed, grinning widely.

"So, what exactly were you doing on Nar Shadaa?" I asked curiously. "And was it really necessary to steal a shuttle to land there?" I added.

"Kind of, yes." She replied as we got up, heading for the living area. "The Ghost is a known Rebel ship throughout the Galaxy. We didn't want to risk detection by landing on Nar Shadaa in it, so we stole an Imperial shuttle, which, unfortunately, was found and recovered by the Empire a week ago. We'd been in hiding until sabine found you." She explained as we sat on the couch. T7 then came rolling in with a pot of caf and a few mugs.

"Thanks buddy." I smiled at him, taking one of the mugs, which he happily filled for me before doing the same for Hera. "Hera, this is T7-O1, my only crew member." I introduced.

"T7 = happy to meet Ghost crew! / Ahsoka = spoke highly." The droid bleeped to Hera.

"Nice to meet you too little guy." Hera responded, petting him softly. T7 let out a rumbling robotic purr at the gesture. "And thank you for the caff." She said, sipping the beverage.

"T7 = happy to be of use!" He chirped, rolling away.

"Quite a personality he has." Hera said with an amused smile. "He'd clash with Chopper more than the Sith and Jedi." She joked.

"He's always been like that." I smiled in amusement.

"I notice he speaks with Old Binary," She observed. I nodded.

"He's over 150 years old." I explained. She nodded in understanding and took another swig of the caf. "Anyway, you were telling me why you were on Nar Shadaa." I reminded her

"Oh, yes, we were looking for someone." She told me, pulling out a datapad from her pocket. Activating it, the pad showed a holographic image of, guess who, The Unseen…. Fuck… "We were hoping to recruit this guy to the Rebellion, but in the past two weeks, we weren't able to find a single hint of him." She sighed, putting the pad back in her pocket.

" _Or so you think…"_ I deadpanned to myself mentally, drinking more of my caff. "I saw that guy on the Holonet. Seems to me he's more Sith than Jedi. Why would you want to recruit him?" I asked. I can't think of any reason why they'd want me in their little rebellion.

"Because he's clearly powerful, skilled, and opposes the Empire. He stole a Holocron that belonged to the Emperor himself, and killed the last of the Inquisitor's. That kind of ambition is something the Rebellion needs." Hera said, putting her now empty mug down. "Plus, maybe Ezra and Kanan could learn a thing or two from him, or vice versa." She added without thinking.

"He's a Darksider. Ezra and Kanan are Jedi. If they want to learn from the Unseen, they'll have to abandon what it means to be a Jedi." I sighed, putting my own empty mug.

"So you know then?" She asked, visibly chastising her herself, albeit mentally, for revealing such info so carelessly. She must be a little too relaxed.

"Yes. Not only did Ahsoka speak of your crew quite often in our correspondences, but you're also all over the Holonet." I explained, leaning back. "Plus, I can easily see the lightsaber hanging from Kanan's belt." I deadpanned. Hera looked away somewhat bashfully.

"Yes, I suppose that does make sense." She said, clearing her throat.

"I noticed that Ezra doesn't carry one. How come?" I asked in interest. Hera's facial expression turned somewhat wry as she gave a soft, though strained, smile.

"It was on a mission about six weeks ago. His lightsaber got destroyed and he was only able to recover his crystal." She said, sounding sympathetic, as well as sad. Right, that's when Ahsoka died. I'm still not convinced she's dead, but I'll think about that another time.

"I can understand that." I said. "The Jedi are taught that their weapon is their life. Losing it would be a massive blow to a Jedi's spirit."

"Quite." Hera agreed with a sigh. "And we don't have all the parts necessary to build new one." She added, shaking her head.

"Well, if he had the parts from his old lightsaber, that should give him somewhat of a head start." I spoke thoughtfully. "What does he need?" I asked.

"A modulation circuit, an energy core, a stabilizing ring, and a crystal chamber." She listed. "Why?" She asked.

"I can get him all of those, except for the crystal chamber." I said, standing up.

"Really?" She asked in shock, receiving a nod.

"I like to take things apart and tinker." I shrugged. "I even have a couple of old lightsabers that don't work anymore, but their crystal chambers will probably be too old to work." I said with a light frown. "But I suppose it's worth a shot." I shrugged.

"Oh, you have no idea how much that would help." Hera said honestly. "It'll lift his spirits immensely. He hasn't been himself since Malachor." She said sadly, getting up herself. "Is it ok if I go get him?" She asked. I nodded.

"Tell him to meet me in the cargo bay." I told her. She nodded and headed for the crew cabins, whilst I went for the cargo bay.

* * *

"Nope…" I said as I tossed a random component aside, reaching into the crate for another one. "Useless." I sighed, throwing it to the side. "Oh! Modulation circuit." I smiled, taking the component and placing it on the closed crate. "And a stabilizing ring. Fantastic." I grinned, setting the ring next to the circuit.

"Uh, Captain? Hera said you wanted to see me?" Ezra asked as the door opened. He walked inside, still weary of me no doubt.

"Yes actually." I said as I closed the crate I was looking through going to the next. "Hera tells me you're working on a new lightsaber." I said as I opened a second crate, rummaging through the components I had stored in there.

"Wait, you know about me? And Kanan?" He asked in surprise.

"I worked with Ahsoka, remember?" I asked bluntly, pulling out an energy core. Finally. I was looking for that one first. "Anywho, I have some of the parts Hera told me you were missing. I don't have any use for them." I said, grabbing the other two components and giving them to him.

"Why would you do this?" He asked, taking the parts cautiously.

"I always hate to see a Jedi without a weapon." I shrugged, moving on to a crate I had perched up on a shelf. "I don't know if this will help, as they are very, _very_ old, before the time of the Old Republic even, but you're welcome to try using the crystal chambers from these." I told him, taking two very old and worn out lightsabers from the crate, making him gasp in shock at the sight. "Now, like I said, these are _very_ old. They don't even work anymore, so I wouldn't get my hopes up of the chambers working, but you can try." I told him as he took the worn out weapons.

"Where did you get all this?" he asked, staring at the parts he held.

"All over the Galaxy." I shrugged, earning a blank look. "I'm a little bit of a tinkerer and a collector. If I get my hands on a fancy weapon, you can bet I'll take it apart and put it back together at least 100 times." I chuckled, putting the small crate back on the shelf.

"What exactly do you collect?" he asked in confusion.

"Nothing in particular." I shrugged. "Weapons, artifacts, relics, anything that catches my fancy really. Especially if it's shiny." I admitted, chuckling sheepishly.

"You know, I have to admit, you're not like other Mandalorians I've met." He said as we walked to the crew cabins. "Sabine is free-spirited, and artistic. Fenn Rau, a prisoner of the Rebellion, is hardened and focussed. You…" He trailed off, looking at me. "You're calm and collected, but I sense that you can be ruthless in a fight. You're pragmatic, but emotional. It's kinda taxing on my head to be honest." He said, rubbing his forehead.

"Hm, you see much for one so young." I told him as we entered the cabin he'd taken. If I had to guess, Sabine was in the second of the cabins, Zeb and Kanan in the third, and Hera was in the cockpit. "How long have you been training in the ways of the Jedi?" I asked curiously.

"A little over a year." He said honestly, placing the components I'd given him on the desk that was in his cabin.

"And lightsaber combat?" I inquired.

"Even less." his face turned to a scowl. "Besides, can't really train if I have no saber, can I?" He asked. In response, I gave him a thoughtful look, before smirking.

"I have an idea about that." I told him, gaining his interest.

* * *

"Oi! What's with all the noise!?" Zeb hollered as he stormed into the Cargo Bay, which Ezra and I had spaced out for what we were currently doing.

"Some of us are trying to-" Sabine stopped as she walked in. "Oh." She said as she saw what Ezra and I were up to.

Using the Mandalorian vibroswords I had, which didn't look all that different to normal katanas, but with glowing sharp edges, Ezra and I were locked in a duel of blades. The vibroswords were just about as heavy as lightsabers were when active, and the glowing edges, which were charged with electrical energy and vibrations, could stand against lightsaber strikes. Using the momentum of our blades pressing against each other, Ezra flipped over me and tried to land a diagonal slash, which I blocked easily.

Judging by his fighting style and footwork, he seems to fight with a mix of Form I and VII, Shii-Cho and Juyo, with the defensive capabilities of Form III, Soresu, thrown in. Very interesting.

Anyway, I brought up my leg, slamming my knee into Ezra's stomach, making him hunch over. Taking the opening, I slashed at him horizontally, but he quickly recovered, jumping into a backflip and delivering a Force Push to my torso, which sent me into the wall. Since I couldn't use the Force myself without blowing my cover, I looked up at him with a grin and pulled out my DH-17 and shot a few blasts at him, which he easily blocked. However, the distraction allowed me to catch him off guard and charge forward with a downward slice, which he dodged by rolling to the side.

Ezra then slashed at my vertically, and I blocked by bringing the blade up in a diagonal block. Pulling back, I slashed at him intentionally landing a hit on his sword, which pushed him back somewhat. I repeated the action with more force, pun not intended, sending him down to one knee. I thought that would be the end of it, but Ezra's more resourceful than I give him credit for. He grabbed the DL-44 Blaster on his hip and shot at me point blank, and even though it was probably set to kill, my armour protected me from injury, but not from the force, again, pun not intended, behind the attack, resulting in me being pushed back a few metres.

We both quickly regained our bearings and slashed at each other at the same time, our blades colliding and sparkling with electrical energy. In complete unison, we pulled back and slashed again, colliding again, and the cycle continued for who knows how long in series of blocks and slashes. It would be impossible to count how many blows were exchanged in our little spar, but the drag on didn't last. I took into account everything he did, every movement of his body whenever he struck, and noticed that he pivots his foot a couple degrees when he's about to strike vertically, and formed a plan from there.

When I blocked one of his next strikes, I thrust my arm forward, delivering a palm strike to his chest, pushing back a few steps. That gave me an opening to delivering a low sweep with my blade that grazed him just barely above his ankle. He must've assumed that that was a failed attempt at damaging his leg, as he barely even hissed in pain before swiping at me. He was wrong. I blocked his attack, and when he pulled his blade back to deliver another vertical strike, he pivoted his foot, and let out a loud grunt of pain as the strain hit the wound that I left.

Taking the opportunity, I slashed at his hand, knocking the blade up into the air, and catching it with my free hand. As Ezra fell to one knee, I held both blades to his neck in an X position.

"My win." I smirked, panting just as heavily as he was.

"Nice trick at the end there." He smirked back, taking my hand as I offered it to him. "Might have to use that myself every now and again." He added, making me shake my head.

"Whoa…" Zeb suddenly spoke. "Nice skills." He said. Sabine nodded in agreement with his statement. Oh yeah, I forgot they were here…

"Sorry, did we wake you?" I asked as I walked over to the locker in the room and opened it, revealing my collection of weapons, including, but not limited to, vibroswords, blaster pistols, blaster rifles, vibro-staves, detonators and there was even a Wookie Heartlance and Bowcaster.

"Yeah, kinda, but it's not… whoa…" Sabine stared in awe at my collection, her eyes shining like a kid in a candy store.

"Uh, you OK?" I asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Oh, don't worry about her. She's got this fascination with weapons." Ezra explained, his arms crossed in amusement.

"She's probably imagining all the havoc she could cause with those." Zeb chuckled in agreement.

"Not on my ship." I said hastily, slamming the locker closed, which in turn snapped Sabine out her awed trance. Seriously, first Hera with the ship, and now Sabine with weapons? What next? Ezra with helmets? "No touchy." I said to her with a stern face.

"But-"

"No touchy." I repeated, stepping between her and the locker.

"You of all people should know not to get between a Mandalorian and a weapon's package." She said, more deadpanned than threatening.

"Listen sweetheart, you look like a smart girl, so I'm sure you'll understand me when I say…" I cleared my throat. "You'sa no touchy da weapons locker without'a me'sa saying so, okie-day?" I asked in a surprisingly good impression of a Gungan. "This'sa ship belong to me'sa, me'sa word be law, capishe?" I asked. Sabine's blank look told me that she found my impression to be absolutely ridiculous, regardless of accuracy, and she clearly didn't appreciate me speaking to her like she was stupid, which wasn't really my intention to be honest. Still, despite that, I put on a bright smile and walked towards my quarters, leaving a snickering Ezra and Zeb behind with an unimpressed Sabine.

"Wait…" She mumbled as I walked off. "Did he just call me sweetheart?" She asked the air. All I heard after that was Ezra and Zeb full on laughing. I couldn't help shaking my head as the door to my quarters closed behind me.

* * *

*Clank clank clank!*

I groaned as a loud, metallic, banging sound resounded through my quarters. There were only two ways such a sound could be created in my quarters. One, was if someone on my ship had a prosthetic hand that they hadn't bother to cover with artificial flesh, which I found highly unlikely as none of the Ghost crew had prosthetic limbs. The other, was if T7 had something urgent to tell me and was banging on my door with one of his tool/limbs to 'knock.'

"T7!" I groaned loudly, turning in bed. And I was having such a nice dream about a Zeltron lady and a beach spa on Iloh…

This, however, seemed to hold no relevance to T7 as he just rolled right into my room. He didn't seem to care that it was incredibly early in the morning, or that I was half asleep. Or even the fact that all I had on was a pair of sleeping pants.

"Transmission = incoming. / Caller = unknown. / T7 = holding transmission." He informed, rolling to my bedside.

"Ok, ok." I sighed, getting up with a stretch. "Just let me put a shirt on." I told him, getting off of my bed and heading over to my locker. I opened it and grabbed one of the tight fitting black long sleeves that I usually wear under my armour. "Alright, put it through." I gave my arms one last stretch before T7 activated his holo-display, showing a very familiar brunette standing before me.

She looked quite different than she did in the movies, though that may be because she was younger, about 17. Her actress in the original trilogy wasn't exactly unattractive to me, but she wasn't a beauty knockout either. Here, she looked similar, but still different to her actress, and quite a bit more attractive too. Her brown hair was tied back into a simple ponytail that she twisted into a bun, rather than those ridiculous dual buns on either side of her head in the movies. She wore a simple pair of tight fitting gray leggings and boots, and a white long sleeved shirt.

"Michael Shan, it is nice to see you again." She greeted with a small smile.

"Well, I'll be." I said, honestly surprised to hear from her. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Princess Leia?" I asked with a smile matching hers.

* * *

 **Done and done. I'm aware that I said that my story would be getting good at this point. Sadly, I was wrong. The next chapter is where it gets good. If I've got everything in my head right, Michael's reveal should come in the next chapter. Got something real badass in mind too, so look forward to it.**

 **Still, I do apologise for uploading a filler over a real chapter.**

 **Now that that's aside, I had idea concerning Kanan and Michael. What if Michael was the one to teach Kanan to 'see' instead of Bendu? I thought of having Michael interact with Bendu before Kanan or Ezra do, and learn from him every now and again since the're so similar. At one point, I thought of having Satele replace Bendu as a whole in this story, but ultimately rejected that notion for reasons I won't go into for now.**

 **And I've made a decision concerning the time in between Season 2 and 3. There will be one mission, some personal interactions, and an encounter with Satele Shan before season 3 begins. So, it'll be around chapter 8 that we start with content actually from the show.**

 **Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts.**


	5. Rescue & Reveal

"So, what can I do for you, My Lady?" I asked, crossing one leg over my knee.

"Unfortunately, this is not a social call, Michael. I need a favour." She said, her somewhat smiling face dropping, as if remembering something unpleasant.

"Being?" I asked in interest. Leia doesn't call me for just any small favour, and there's usually compensation involved.

"A Rebel spy was discovered on a TIE carrier that orbits Corellia. His mission was to observe the workings of the carrier and the factories, taking down every bit of intel he could." She explained. "Timing, resources, rate of production, etc." She listed.

"And you want me to get him out of there?" I asked. Sounds kinda dangerous to be honest. Corellia has a heavy Imperial presence. The TIE Fighters are mass-produced there, the Star Destroyers are constructed, heck, I think Vader even has a palace there. Not as glamorous as his palace on Coruscant, but I've heard that there is one on Corellia. Plus, I don't think I could count the number of cruisers, freighters, and transports that surround that rock.

"I'm sorry to have to ask such a dangerous task of you, but yes." She said dejectedly. "But I am the one who assigned Lieutenant Kali to this mission. I cannot in good conscience leave her there." She said, her shoulders dropping.

"Wait, are you say that the Rebellion isn't going to rescue her?" I asked in shock.

"Rebel Command voted on whether or not it was worth the risk. She had intel that we could use, but she's been away for some time. She doesn't know anything of importance." Leia sighed. "She doesn't know the locations of any Rebel bases, nor anything that could help the Empire win the war. The vote came to the conclusion that she would be killed and that we could do nothing for her." She said, her cracking slightly. "You can guess what the final decision was." She added with a wry smile.

"Yes, yes I can." I said with a sigh. "So, which ship is she on? And where should I deliver her when I've freed her?" I asked.

"Am I to understand that means you're going to take this assignment?" She asked.

"When have I ever rejected a dangerous mission?" I asked with a grin, making Leia roll her eyes, though she did put on a small smile.

"I'm sending coordinates and other necessary intel to your Astromech's database now." She told me, tapping on a datapad. Seconds later, T7 bleeped in affirmation, confirming that he got the intel. "Good luck Michael." Leia said with a smile as she disabled the holocommunicator.

"Well T7, looks like we have another mission." I said to my little friend.

"T7 = curious. / Alderaan Princess = Partner's mate?" He asked curiously. I gave him a blank look, not answering for a short few moments.

"No." I said bluntly, standing up to get my armour.

"Alderaan Princess = conquest?" He asked. I spluttered and looked at him incredulously.

"What in the hell brought that up!?" I asked loudly.

"Partner = brings females on occasion. / T7 = did research. / Partner's female guests = conquests. / T7 = correct?" He asked. How can a sentient being like T7 be 150 years old, and yet be so naive? I bet if he was human, he'd be tilting his head.

"They were not 'conquests' T7." I said with a blush, donning my armour. "They were women who needed a night of pleasantries and comfort as much as I did. I didn't 'conquer' them." I explained, blushing up a storm. Why the hell am I explaining this to a droid!?

"Partner = comfort women with intimacy + gets comfort from intimacy?" He asked for clarification.

"Yes, now can we please stop talking about this?!" I practically begged. "And get me some caf!" I cried, burying my face in a shirt, hoping to cover my embarrassment.

"T7 = understands. / T7 = get caf." He said obediently, rolling to the door. "T7 = get caf for Ghost crew?" He asked before leaving.

"If they're awake, and they want." I said, my voice muffled by my shirt. "And please don't speak to anyone about what we've said here." I added. Damn it, why am I so embarrassed?!

"T7 = understands!" He chirped, leaving. Thank the stars…

With a sigh, I slipped the shirt I was holding on, my face still burning, and went over to the footlocker that I kept my armour in. Kneeling in front of it, I opened it, finding something that I'd briefly forgotten about; Satele's double bladed lightsaber. Looking over at the locker in my room, which was still open, I saw the red Dantari Crystal I'd bought from Han Solo resting on one of the shelves in there. With a small smile, I reached out for the crystal, and it flew into my hand. I then grabbed the lightsaber and twisted the center, snapping it open and revealing the crystal chamber.

With an eager grin, I placed the crystal securely in the chamber and closed the device, admiring it. I really wanted to ignite it here and now, but I knew that if I did, someone would notice. So, clipped it onto the back of my belt and slipped all of my armour on, my boots and gloves following. I'll focus on tuning the crystal at a later date. I also got my hands on a black armourweave coat, much like the ones the Jedi used to wear, but not as baggy and big. This one was more fitted to my figure, going down to my knees, and it looked a lot like a gothic trench coat. The hood was an added bonus. Ever since I was simple civilian on Earth watching Star Wars on my laptop, I have loved hoods. 'Nuff said.

* * *

"Damn, that's a lot Imperial ships." I said with a whistle as I inspected the current status of Corellia and its orbit. There were Star Destroyers, Freighters, Cruisers, every type of ship fathomable, and thousands of them to boot. Understandable; it is a big galaxy. Thankfully, most of these ships are due for their maiden voyages within the next 12 hours, and they'll all be scattered across the Galaxy. Some are even headed into Wild Space and the Unknown Regions for exploration.

Neat.

So, by the time I've dropped the Ghost crew off at their little station where they stored the Ghost, I'll already be in the Core Region. And since the Hyperspace routes are pretty much a straight line there, I'll be at Corellia within an hour after that. So, all in all, I should arrive at Corellia in about 14 hours, since I can't ask the Ghost crew to accompany me. I prefer to work alone anyway; don't have to babysit crew members/teammates that way. Everything goes my way.

"Hey Mike, what are you doing?" Ezra asked as he and Hera suddenly walked in, seeing the map I had displayed. "Is that Corellia?" He asked, sitting on one of the tables.

"Yeah." I answered, noting that he called me 'Mike.' Very few people do that these days… "I received an assignment from one of my contacts. They want me to rescue a Rebel spy who was caught on one of the carriers." I explained, changing the holo-display to show the carrier; a large triangular ship with four hangar entrances.

"Wait, there was a spy there?" Ezra asked.

"Probably not from our cell though." Hera guessed. I nodded in response.

"The spy was to report the Corellian factory's status and updates. Things like the rate of production, new projects, and all that. Sadly, she got caught and is probably being interrogated as we speak." I grimaced. Yeah, 'interrogated,' excellent euphemism.

"Oh no…" Hera gasped. "What is the Rebellion going to do?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing unfortunately." I said with a frown. "The spy doesn't know anything of value about the Rebellion; no secret base locations, no secret codes or any of that, because she was spying for a long time. And since she doesn't know anything that can threaten the Rebellion…" I trailed off.

"They decided to leave her because the risk is too great to save one person…" Hera said sadly.

"Yes." I confirmed with a sigh. "I don't like it any more than you do, but I can see the logic behind it. A rescue mission would require a full scale attack, and no matter what the Rebellion stands for, a single life, one that does not threaten the Rebellion in enemy hands, is not worth all the resources that would go into it." I shook my head.

"Wait, if they decided not to save this spy, why are you going?" Ezra asked in confusion.

"One of the members of this Rebel cell is an old friend." I told him. "She asked me to rescue this spy, Lieutenant Kali, as a personal favor." I explained.

"And you said yes?" he asked.

"Why else would I be looking at a map of Corellia and all the ships orbiting it, Ezra?" I asked bluntly, changing the display once again to show the whole planet with all the ships.

"Oh, uh, good point." He conceded with a sheepish chuckle.

"Michael, this is a very dangerous mission." Hera said warningly. "I'm not sure we can pull this off without a small fleet." She warned.

"I'm sorry, we?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry Hera, but after I drop you and your crew off at the Ghost, I'm headed out to take care this myself. I work alone." I stated firmly.

"You can't be serious." Ezra said, mouth agape.

"Completely." I responded. "I have no need of a crew or a team. They just get in my way." I shook my head.

"Michael, this is an Imperial Carrier, it's the only ship bigger than a Star Destroyer, and it has the crew count, not to mention all the fighters on it." Hera protested. "You'll never get to the prisoner and back to your ship in time!" she exclaimed. With a blank look, I brought my right hand to the pad on my right wrist, activating my Stealth Tech. The two of them blanched in surprise as I disappeared from their sight, only to reappear when I deactivated it.

"I'll be fine." I assured her.

"What about your ship? Who'll keep the Stormtroopers off of it?" Hera asked with crossed arms.

"T7 is going drop me off in one of the hangars and then fly off, keeping the attention off of the carrier while I do my work." I responded. "I go in, sneak into the prisoner's cell, and get her to the Huntress."

"You can't do this alone." Ezra tried to persuade me.

"I think I can." I returned, deactivating the Holo-display.

Hera just narrowed her eyes.

* * *

"I kept saying no, how am I here?" I asked incredulously as the Ghost crew and I approached Corellia. Ezra, Zeb, Kanan, Sabine, and I stood just in the corridor leading up to the ramp, waiting for Hera's signal, ie, the ramp opening. "No, seriously, how did we get to this point?" I asked of the Ghost crew, who were smiling and snickering in amusement. "I don't even remember…" I added in a mumble.

"Don't beat yourself up." Ezra chuckled. "Hera has that kind of effect on people."

"It's better if you just go with it Kid." Zeb snickered with a hand on his forehead.

"They're right." Kanan smirked softly, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

"Just don't think about it. It worked for the rest of us." Sabine grinned in amusement, putting her helmet on. "Now, can we go over the plan one more time?" She asked.

"Ok then…" I sighed. Best to just forget about it and carry on with the mission. "The plan's simple; Hera will fly into the carrier's least occupied hangar and drop us there before flying off, keeping the remaining ships' attention off of the carrier." I started. "Zeb, Kanan, and Ezra will cause a ruckus, catching the attention of the crew whilst Sabine and I make our way to the brig." I continued. "Once we get Lieutenant Kali out of her cell, we'll make our way back to the hangar where Hera will pick us up before we jump out of here." I finished.

"And how exactly is Hera supposed to drop us off without us being blown up?" Zeb asked in confusion.

"The Huntress can cloak itself from both the naked eye and scanners for a brief amount of time." I explained, much to the crew's shock. "She'll be cloaking just before we drop out of hyperspace and then head towards the hangar. And since it only lasts a few moments, that's when we'll the advantage the most." I added.

"Cloaking?" Kanan asked interest.

"A little something I snagged from Moff Tarkin a while back." I smirked. Several snickers echoed from the crew, even the ever-stiff Jedi Kanan.

"Why does it only last so long?" Sabine asked.

"It wasn't designed to fit my ship." I answered. "And since the tech is just barely compatible with the Huntress, there'll be problems if I keep it up for too long or use it back to back to many times." I explained, pulling my hood up as soon as I felt the ship's drop from Hyperspace.

"We've arrived at Corellia. Approaching the carrier now." Hera said to me in my earpiece. Apparently, since it was a mission assigned to me, the Ghost crew decided to put me in charge of this little op they were on. Nifty.

"Get ready." I said, pulling out my blasters. Everybody else did the same. I wonder how Kanan uses a blaster when he can't see… I'm guessing he just senses where his target is and shoots.

"A Westar-55? Damn." Sabine said, impressed. Understandable. These things were commissioned for mass production during the Clone Wars, but the factory was destroyed shortly after. Now, there's only a couple hundred of these bad boys in the whole Galaxy.

"We're in the carrier. 16 enemies in sight." Hera informed us. "Opening ramp in 3… 2… 1… Now!" She exclaimed as the ramp opened. Sharing a nod, the five of us jumped out of the ramp, landing on one knee, taking down at least two enemies as we did so before taking cover behind crates or speeders, or any other form of cover we could get to.

"Sabine, as soon as that door opens, we bolt!" I told my fellow Mando, pointing at the door at the back of the hangar, where the back-up would most certainly come through, as we kept shooting at our enemies. I was just vaguely aware of the Huntress uncloaking and shooting out of the hangar,

"You got it." She nodded, taking out another Stormtrooper. As luck would have it, as soon as the last of the troopers in the hangar were killed, courtesy of yours truly, the door at the back of the hangar opened, and a squad of Stormtroopers came marching in. That's when Sabine and I shot forward. "Guys, cover us!" She barked at the other three, who instantly did as she said. While the Stormtroopers shot at us, one falling down dead every few seconds, my fellow Mandalorian and I expertly avoided their shots as we ran, just barely managing to jump through the door before it closed. We could have sliced it into opening, but that would have taken up too much time, especially with the other three causing a ruckus in the hangar.

"Ok, where do we go from here?" Sabine asked as we took of down the corridor. I activated the hollow display on my wrist brace, showing a hologram of the carrier, and our path.

"This way." I said, pointing to the upcoming left turn. Swiftly, she and I turned, finding a small group of Stormtroopers in our path. They were dead before they even knew we'd drawn our blasters. "Keep going." I told my companion as another turn approached, one that we skipped. "One more turn to the right and we should be coming up to the brig." I told her. When the right turn came along, we took it, finding a big door in our way.

"I got this one." Sabine said, pulling out a detonator. She placed it on the door and signaled for me to back off. Once the device's beeping stopped, it went off, leaving a sizable hole in the door. There were also a couple of Stormtroopers lying on the ground on the other side, suggesting that they had been caught in the explosion.

"Well, I suppose the rumors are true." I smirked at Sabine. "Clan Wren really does love making things go boom." I quipped as we continued on our way.

"What can I say? It's a family specialty." She returned.

"Here we are." I told her, stopping at the cell the intel told me of. "Cell 47." I told her. She nodded and got to work on the keypad next to the cell door. Within minutes, she had the door open, revealing the cell. "Lieutenant Kali?" I called into the cell. From the corner, a woman in a pilot's suit, minus the headgear, walked into our field of vision from the shadows. She had short blonde hair in a crew cut and electric green eyes with bags under them. Her pale skin and slight limp were a testament to how exhausted and drained she was.

"Who... who are you?" She asked as I caught her from tripping.

"My name is Michael. We're going to get you out of here." I said softly, pulling her arm around my shoulder to support her. Sabine quickly did the same on the woman's other side.

"We've got you Lieutenant." She said as we assisted the now passed out woman out of her cell.

"Halt!" A voice ordered as two Stormtroopers approached with their blasters aimed at us. I instantly took one of my blasters and shot them both in the head. It's truly ridiculous how Stormtrooper armor doesn't protect you from anything. One would think the Empire would put more effort into arming their troops.

"More incoming!" Sabine warned me as a squad of troopers ran up behind us.

"Get her out of here." I ordered, letting go of Kali. "I'll hold them off and catch up in about 10 minutes." I told her. She nodded and picked up the pace, turning the next corridor and giving me room to cut loose/

"Drop your weapons and surrender." The leading trooper ordered as they all got into formation, aiming at me.

"You know, sometimes I pity you Stormtroopers." I said honestly, with a small sigh. "These Rebels come along and take you out, and you don't stand a chance." I shook my head. "Makes me wonder why anybody signs up to be honest." I said, looking right at the leader. "Especially when this happens." I added darkly, shooting him in the head. I sensed the shock from the squad as their commanding officer fell like a hung piece of meat, which he technically was now, minus the hung. "Who's next?" I grinned like a madman, holding up both my blasters.

* * *

Having taken care of the Stormtroopers that were surrounding me before, and any more that got in my way as I headed back towards the hangar, I arrived at the hangar, finding another squad shooting at the rest of the Ghost crew, who were taking cover behind a bunch of crates. Not seeing me coming, the squad fell just as fast as the other troopers I'd taken down, and I quickly joined the Ghost crew behind the crates, as reinforcements arrived quickly.

"How is it that the Empire has so many foot soldiers?!" Zeb asked incredulously as we all continued to shoot.

"Serve or die policy?" I suggested unhelpfully, doing my best to shoot without being shot.

"Funny." Zeb shot back as we leaned behind the crates again.

"He's not wrong." Sabine chimed in, pulling out a detonator. You can guess what followed.

"Hera, we've got the target." Kanan said into his comlink.

" _Kinda busy!"_ Hera returned _. "These TIEs are ganging up on me like you wouldn't believe."_ She said, turret fire echoing in the com. _"I just need some more time!"_ She told us.

"We might not have much time!" Ezra said into his com. Looking around, I desperately searched for something that could help in this situation, and caught sight of something interesting; a small shuttle that, whilst I doubted it would fly due to wing damage, but it looked intact enough for life support. Ha! Idea.

"Hera, if I can buy you time, can you run a 33 Swipe?" I asked her.

"You gotta be kidding!" Sabine said in shock.

"You got a better idea?" I shot back.

"Jump into space and get it over with?" Zeb suggested in a deadpanned tone.

"This is all seeming very familiar." Ezra said bluntly.

" _Hm, risky, but it's the best idea we've got."_ Hera said thoughtfully. _"Fine, but make sure you're ready."_ she told us.

"I could say the same to you." I returned, cutting the comlink. "Get to that shuttle over there." I said, pointing to the spacecraft I'd seen earlier. "I'll distract them." I said, putting my blasters away.

"And how do you intend to do that?" Sabine asked, raising her eyebrow under her helmet no doubt.

"That's for me to know, and you to watch, Love." I answered playfully, jumping over the crates. Steadily, I walked towards the troopers. Oh, Agent Kallus is there. I didn't know that. Any who, I avoided a couple of their shots, pulling out my visor and slipping it on. Most of the troopers gripped their faces through their helmets, no doubt being hit with the scrambling tech was unpleasant. I even heard Sabine yelp in surprise at the suddenness of it.

With a deep breath, I reach into my coat and pulled out the double blade lightsaber Satele gave me. Hardening my Djem So stance, adjusted to fit the dualsaber of course, I activated the device, the two red blades humming deeply as I waited for the Stormtroopers to attack. I could sense their shock and fear, and even the Ghost crew were shocked at the revelation. Heh, they were flying with the guy they were looking for the whole time. How ironic.

"All troopers!" Agent Kallus spoke up, though I felt hesitation within him. "Set your blasters to stun, and focus fire on the Unseen!" He ordered, pointing at me. In an instant, I was being bombarded with the blue ring-shaped stun blasts. However, by cutting through the rings, I was able to disrupt them, and from that point, they were harmless.

As I continued disrupting the stun blasts, I shot forward, intent on taking care of these guys. I jumped up high, flipping forward over the squad, delivering swift slashes to the nearest troopers. As another trooper tried to knock me out with his blaster butt, I shot a bolt of Balanced Judgement at him, sending him flying. As he landed, he had little towers of smoke emitting from the spaces between his armour.

Following that, I ran the closest trooper through, using the blade to throw him into another trooper, and used the rear blade of my dualsaber to stab the guy behind me. Agent Kallus, looking very scared, shot at me with his Bo-rifle, and I deflected all the blasts away, sending a couple into the troopers surrounding us. Hardening himself, he activated the Bo-rifle's melee mode, which turned it into a staff with yellow electricity crackling on either end, which he readied for attack. I did the same.

"Aah!" I heard a cry of pain, which took my attention. Ezra had been hit in his shoulder, his blaster knocked away as well, and he was on the floor, with several Stormtroopers aiming at him, should he step out of line. The rest of the Ghost crew were barely fighting off the virtual army of Stormtroopers surrounding them.

Again, say what you will about the Stormtroopers,but they do have an advantage in numbers...

Kallus, meanwhile, took advatage of my momentary lapse of concentration, and attacked. I was barely able to dodge in time, though not without a graze to my side. Seeing that Ezra needed help, I slipped the other saber Satele gave me, the single bladed green one. "Ezra!" I called out to him, gaining his attention. As he looked my way, I threw the lightsaber in his direction, and his eyes widened in realization. He reached out for it, and the device flew into his grip, activating almost immediately. The emerald blade glowed brightly as jumped to his feet, deflecting any blasts that came his way, and I focused back on Agent Kallus.

He charged at me, bringing his staff down, and I blocked the attack with my saberstaff. Yellow met crimson in a sparkling battle of power, Kallus and I pushing our weapons against one another in an intense test of strength. Eventually, he pulled back and tried to stab at me, but I used my blade to push his staff down to the ground, delivering a swift kick to his face. He didn't let that get to him though, and pushed his weapon up into mine, hard. I wasn't expecting the hard upward force that he applied, and lost my grip on my weapon, which in turn led to it being sent flying back.

"Surrender, Unseen." He commanded, the electric end of his bo-rifle just centimeters from my face.

"My name is Shan. Don't forget it, Buckethead." I sassed back, collecting energy into my hands. As I released it, a flurry of silver lightning shot into his body, sending him flying. I took the opportunity to bolt towards the shuttle, where the Ghost crew were managing to gather, after finally getting rid of all the Stormtroopers, with just a handful left. As I ran, I brought my dualsaber to my hands with telekinesis, finally arriving at the shuttle.

"Hera, now!" Sabine said into her come.

" _On my way!"_ Hera responded.

"Looks like you've got some explaining to do." Kanan said, frowning at me softly. As he said that, he activated his saber and deflected two bolts from a couple of Stormtroopers away.

"Finally decided to whip yours out too eh?" I returned snarkily, hearing more blasts behind me. I quickly activated one of the blades on my saberstaff and deflected them back at their shooter, which turned out to be Kallus. Huh, glad I didn't kill him. In the distance, the Huntress' unique purr of the engine could be heard approaching. "In we go!" I said loudly. Zeb, who was carrying Lieutenant Kali, went straight in, followed by the rest of us, and I slammed the ramp button, closing it. "Hang on to something." I said as Ezra, Kanan, and I all deactivated the sabers we held.

"Ugh, I hate this part." Zeb groaned, grabbing on to a pole attached to the wall. The rest of us followed suit. A few seconds later, the shuttle moved, as if being dragged, and we had to hold on to not be tossed around like ragdolls in here. This was the 33 Swipe; the crew members gather into a container that can survive in space, a shuttle or other small ship works just fine, and the pilot of the main ship swoops in and locks on with a tractor beam, dragging the smaller ship with it.

"Making the jump, now." Hera said, and we all felt the pull of the Hyperdrive being activated.

"Well, that was more fun than I had expected." I said with a sigh. I had expected a chuckle or two, but everyone, minus Zeb who was still carrying the unconscious Kali, had there arms crossed, and were looking at me with expressions that clearly displayed the fact that they were not impressed. "Alright, alright." I sighed. "I'll explain everything once we're all back on the Huntress." I gave up. They all seemed satisfied by that.

XXX

"Ailments include minor hemorrhaging on the back of the neck, several broken ribs, dehydration, and 2nd degree burns across the torso." My medical droid, one I usually keep deactivated unless he's needed, said as he treated the unconscious Lieutenant Kali in the Huntress' Medical Bay. "Kolto treatment is recommended." he added after going through all the data.

"See to it." I ordered.

"Yes Master. Assistance?" He requested, prepping the kolto tank for use. Nodding I gently hefted the unconscious woman up with the force, keeping her in place where the Kolto tank was. Around her, the tank closed, the glass sliding up, and it quickly filled up with Kolto, allowing me to release my hold on her as she floated in the medical liquid, a snorkel coming over to her face to allow her to breath. "Will that be all Master?" The droid asked, inputting the necessary info to the tank's pad.

"Yes. Deactivate yourself once the Kolto cycle is over and you're certain she'll be fine." I instructed, leaving the Med Bay of my ship.

"As you command Master." he responded, floating over to supervise the woman's recovery whilst I made my way to the conference room. With a sigh, I entered and sat the captain's chair, which allowed me to face the remaining chairs, where the Ghost crew were currently sitting.

"So, would you like to start, or should we?" Hera asked, crossing her arms. Geez, this is my ship! And here I am, being scolded like a child for keeping a secret I was perfectly within my rights to keep. And now they want me to spill the beans just like that. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Ah well, may as well get it over with.

* * *

 **And that's where we'll stop. How did you like Mike's reveal? As you've probably guessed, it was heavily based on the mission with the Wookies on Kessel in the first episode of Rebels. I briefly considered making it that the Ghost crew went back to Kessel to rescue a group of Ewoks this time, who were being enslaved because their small size was advantageous in smaller mines. Instead, I went with this. I hope it lived up to hype.**

 **Now, I'm aware that I haven't shown Mike's actual lightsaber yet, the one he constructed himself. Don't worry, I have every intention of doing so, I just want to make it a little again, there's been plenty of excitement and mystery already, so I might just have him show the Specters in their little intervention in the next chapter. I already have the design and colour all figured out, so don't bother with any requests or suggestions there. I'm still thinking on his mother's lightsaber though. I have some ideas, but I'm still open to suggestions there. If you didn't read the previous chapter properly, then you should know that Michael has his mother's lightsaber in his room, hidden like Kanan's was on the Ghost.**

 **Just one thing; NO BLUE. I HATE blue lightsabers. Don't ask me why, because I don't know, I just hate them. I also hate yellow, orange, and white. Ok, I don't exactly** _ **hate**_ **white lightsabers per se, Ahsoka's are awesome, but I wouldn't want one.**

 **Digression aside, I've made a decision concerning the timeframe. You'll have to wait and see what I do, but I promise it'll be awesome.**

 **Ciao!**


	6. Truth & Perspective

"Where should I start?" I asked tiredly, leaning into my chair with my arms crossed.

"Who are you?" Sabine all but demanded. It seems she was the most upset with me, since she was the one whom I had lied to first. Makes sense I suppose, though I didn't really lie.

"I was completely honest with you when I introduced myself." I revealed. "My name is Michael, and I am a Mandalorian of Clan Varad." I said.

"There must be more." Kanan chimed in.

"Yes, there is." I agreed. "My father, Leon Varad met with a Jedi Master on Coruscant before the Clone War started. They became close, and eventually evolved beyond friendship, despite the Jedi Councils rules." I told them. "As you can guess, I inherited my mother's Force-sensitivity." I added.

"Hadn't figured." Zeb said sarcastically.

"Who was your mother?" Hera asked.

"Master Relia Shan." I answered, eliciting a soft gasp from Kanan.

"Master Shan's your mother?" he asked incredulously. I bet his eyes were wide behind that mask of his.

"Yes." I answered, since a nod wouldn't work for him.

"Shan…" Ezra repeated. "I know that name." He said, scrunching up in confusion.

"You should." His Master told him. "Shan is the name of a long line of Jedi and Peacekeepers. I thought they were as extinct as the Jedi." He revealed.

"Oh yeah!" Ezra snapped his fingers. "There were records in the Holocron about Bastila Shan and Satele Shan, two of the greatest Jedi the Order had in that era." He remembered.

"Exactly." I nodded. "Both of them are my ancestors." I explained.

"Where is Master Shan?" Kanan asked. Though he kept a calm demeanor, I feel the excitement coming from him.

"I have no idea." I said regretfully. "Disappeared years ago, leaving her lightsaber and Holocron behind. I haven't seen her since." I frowned.

"Is this the lightsaber?" Ezra asked, finally returning the device to me by rolling it across the table.

"No." I shook my head. "This lightsaber, as well as this one…" I pulled out my dualsaber and placed them both on the table in front of me. "Are both my inheritance. They belonged to and were constructed by Satele Shan." I explained.

"Whoa…" Ezra said in awe, looking at the blades.

"Why was the one you used red?" Zeb asked with no small amount of suspicion.

"The crystal that Satele used in the dualsaber was destroyed, so when I got it, it was empty. Whilst on Nar Shadaa, I went looking for a replacement." I explained. "It was actually just minutes before I met Sabine that I purchased a red Dantari Crystal from a Smuggler."

"What of your own lightsaber?" Kanan asked, leaning forward. "Did you ever construct one yourself?" He asked.

"I did." I confirmed. The older Knight hummed in thought.

"What about your hair? The Holo-reports said that you had black hair." Ezra pointed out. "Did you dye it like Sabine?" He asked. I shook my head in response.

"I have a Metamorgan somewhere up in my ancestry." I explained, shifting my hair black, catching Sabine's interest. She had a similar look in her eye to the look when she saw my weapons collection. "The blood is thin, but I can change my hair and eye colour. Nothing more." I explained, shifting my hair back to silver and crimson.

"Cool." Sabine grinned, though the grin fell a little after a few seconds. "I'm actually kinda jealous." She realised, frowning. Everyone chuckled a little before the Twi'lek in the room decided to ask the question everyone had wanted to ask.

"Why didn't you tell us who you were?" Hera asked, crossing her arms. "Especially after I told you we were looking for the Unseen?" She added.

"Because I don't want to be part of your rebellion." I answered. "I knew you would try to recruit me to Phoenix Squadron as soon as you found out who I was, so I opted to keep my mouth shut." I sighed. "Lo and behold, I get a mission that you all insist on coming along on." I grumbled. If they had just done as I asked, this whole mess could have been avoided. Still, I'm trying to maintain my patience here; I don't owe these people anything, but I'm trying to be polite.

"Why exactly do you not want to be apart of the Rebellion?" Kanan asked, resting his elbows on the table, and his chin on his intertwined hands. "I thought you hated the Empire as much as we do." He noted.

"I do." I agreed. "But there are two main reasons. One, I see a bigger picture, bigger than you do, because of a vision I had some time ago." That hadn't been much of a lie. I DO see a bigger picture, and it IS because of a vision I saw long ago. I just didn't say that the vision came from watching TV as a child…

"Mike, visions can be misinterpreted. Believe me, I know that better than anyone." Ezra warned me, a hint of experience in his voice.

"I have a good handle on this vision, Ezra, trust me." I returned, the irony of this conversation not lost on me.

"We can save that conversation for another day." Hera declared, as if decided that we WILL have that conversation at some point. Fuck you lady! "What was the other reason? You mention two." She said to me. I gave her a glare.

"Don't presume that I owe you any answers Hera." I hissed. "Any questions of yours that I answer are a _favor_ on my part. Keep that in mind." I said angrily. She at least had the decency to look abashed; that was a point in her favor. I suppose she isn't used to being on a ship that isn't _hers_ , and thus not used to being the main authority figure on a ship.

"Could you tell us what the second reason is?" She asked, a little more politely than before.

With a sigh, I nodded and stood up, looking at them all. Closing my eyes, I focussed on what lurked within me, before opening my eyes. Everyone flinched surprise, seeing the purple glow from my eyes, even Kanan. They were even more startled when a thin layer of deep red mist coated my entire body, head to toe, surrounding my entire being, showing my affinity for the Dark Side. When it faded, everyone calmed down. Though, they were still weary, mainly due to the fact that my eyes were now a luminous shade of orange, and not by my shapeshifting abilities.

"I'm a Darksider Hera, the closest thing to a Sith in the Galaxy besides Sidious and Vader." I said, taking my seat once more, my orange eyes piercing hers. "Do you really think any rebel, much less a Jedi, would be willing to trust me?" I asked, crossing my arms. All attention turned to Ezra and Kanan, who were staring at me uneasily, Kanan more so than Ezra. It's fascinating how he's able to emote so well behind that mask.

"Kanan? Ezra?" Hera asked, her voice soft as the two Jedi focussed their attention on me.

"I feel… cold. But… calm." Ezra spoke, his voice sounding as if he was partially hypnotised. Some kind of trance probably. "I don't think he has any ill intentions." He decided, giving Hera a nod. Understandable. There's a reason Jedi trained their students as young as possible; children have more flexible thoughts and minds, and whilst Ezra is hardly a child, he is more open minded than Kanan. For now at least. I do wonder if the Sith Holocron has gotten to him yet.

"I… I feel…" Kanan stammered softly, shaking his head.

"Just say it Kanan." I rolled my eyes. "Your Jedi instincts are screaming at you to grab your saber and cut me down." I said sourly. Everybod gave both me and Kanan shocked and weary looks.

"To… some extent, yes." He admitted. "But, you're so young, and the Dark Side hasn't corrupted you as much as it could. I'm sure, with some help, you could-"

"Ah-bu-bup!" I stopped him. "That right there is another reason I don't want to join. How do I know you won't try to pressure me to become a Jedi/Lightsider?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "Also, you seem to be under the impression that I _want_ to turn from the Dark Side; I don't." I said firmly, shocking them.

"Michael, I'm no Jedi, but I know that the Dark Side isn't something a person should take lightly." Hera warned me.

"You're right Hera; you're not a Jedi, and you're not a Force Wielder." I shot back. "The Jedi believed that the Light Side was everything that a Force Wielder should embrace, and the Dark Side was an evil entity that corrupts and destroys everything in its wake." I shook my head. "The Dark Side is a completely _natural_ part of the Force, something the Jedi religiously deny." I sighed. "I don't deny myself any part of the Force; Dark, Light, or Grey. In fact, I try to see the Force as just that; the Force. No Dark, no Light, and no Grey." I explained.

"So, clear?" Sabine asked in confusion.

"Yes! Clear." I said, relieved to find someone who understood my point of view.

"Michael, the Dark Side is a dangerous and addictive thing!" Kanan insisted, placing his hands on the table and standing up. "It'll destroy you!" He exclaimed.

"Irrelevant!" I shot back, standing up. "It's my power Kanan, and therefore, it's my choice how I use it. I am not your son, I am not your apprentice, and I am not a Jedi." I growled. "Ever wonder why the Jedi died out? Because they refused to accept the Force for what it is."

"You…" He said through gritted teeth, clenching his fist.

"What does the Jedi Code say? 'There is no ignorance?' Well, I find that very hard to believe." I spat, walking off.

"You get back here!" Kanan exclaimed in outrage, no doubt taking offense to my words.

"Why, Master Jedi, you sound upset." I smirked tauntingly, and though he couldn't see it, I'm willing to bet he could sense it. "Angry even." I added, making him grit his teeth. "And let me remind you of something…" I trailed off, allowing my eyes to be replaced by an intense purple light. "You are on my ship right now. My allowing you here is a _courtesy._ It would be unwise to anger me further." I hissed, my voice deeper and darker. Everyone was readying themselves to draw their weapons, but I quelled the glow, my eyes going back to the crimson red I'd shifted them to. "Any further attempts to interrogate me will result in a one-way trip outside the airlock." I sneered, marching out of the room. I went straight to my quarters, not saying another word to the Ghost crew.

* * *

It took a while, but I finally managed to calm my anger, by meditating in my quarters for about three hours. I was still rather angry with Kanan for thinking he had the right to judge my choices with my power, but I was calm enough to not feel an overwhelming desire to blast a bolt of Balanced Judgment the size of a lightsaber up his ass. Not anymore anyway. Only question now is if he has the Jedi wisdom and maturity to realise that he was wrong. I won't apologise for being a Darksider, and I don't expect Kanan to apologise for being a Jedi, but I do expect him to apologise for trying to undermine my choices and decisions, for only then will I apologise for mocking the Jedi Code, despite my believing that the thing is a load of crap.

The time I spent meditating wasn't just for meditation you know. I also took the time to tune the Kyber Crystal within the single bladed lightsaber that Satele gave me. I had the device resting on the ground in front of me, and the crystal levitating in front of my face as I knelt, my body coated in the Dark Side's signature red mist and my eyes closed.

Tuning a lightsaber crystal is a practice that was lost to the Jedi long ago, but I learned how to do it from the Holocron my mother left me; the cubic bronze one. It's a technique in which the wielder infuses their 'essence' into the crystal they use for their lightsaber, altering it, making it an extension of themselves. When successful, the crystal becomes, for all intensive purposes, a separated piece of the wielder's body. I successfully pulled it off with the Krayt Dragon pearl inside my own lightsaber that I had constructed, and I wanted to make the lightsabers that Satele gave me my own as well.

And it's been working.

The Kyber crystal, which had a faint green glow before, was now glowing brightly, in a variety of colours, as it took in my essence. The sharp, ragged edges slowly became more defined, polished almost, and the semi-rough faces become smoother. Finally, the overall shape become much more symmetrical and sleek, producing a crystal that looked nothing like a Kyber crystal. Well, not what Jedi mostly see Kyber crystals as anyway. The crystal is still a Kyber Crystal, but it's now sleeker, smoother, and far more powerful.

I was just about to complete the process when my door chimed. My eye twitching in annoyance, I reached out to the door, allowing it to open. It was Ezra.

"Oh, Mike, sorry." He said bashfully. "I didn't know you were busy." He told me apologetically.

"Worry not." I told him with a soft sigh. "I was just about to finish up anyway. Come in." I told him as I focussed back on the crystal. Ezra nodded and sat opposite me, staring at the crystal in interest.

"What are doing?" he asked.

"Tuning the Kyber crystal to match my presence." I answered, focussing once more on the crystal. I could sense the young Jedi's confusion, but he didn't press the issue. At least, not until I was done. Slowly, as I concentrated, the crystal's glow died down to that of a normal Kyber crystal's soft, luminous glow, but now a dark shade of green. I brought my empty lightsaber up, opening it, and levitating the crystal into the chamber. Closing the device, the crystal now secure in the chamber, I brought the device to my hand, smiling in satisfaction.

"What exactly did you just do?" he asked, completely befuddled. Instead of answering immediately, I smirked and activated the blade. Rather than the emerald green blade that Ezra had seen when he used this lightsaber temporarily, a darker emerald green blade with a black core emerged, humming deeply; deeper than I've ever heard from any lightsaber. "Whoa…" he murmured, something he seems to do a lot.

"Tuning a lightsaber crystal infuses the crystal with your essence, making it a part of you; an extension of your very being." I explained, admiring the blade with a satisfied smile, liking the colour very much so. "Doing so makes the lightsaber a much more powerful and efficient weapon. It draws its power from the crystal, and by extension, yourself." I said, deactivating the blade. "It is an art that was lost to the jedi when Darth Malak bombarded the Jedi Academy on Dantooine millennia ago, destroying all the knowledge it held, and slaughtering every inhabitant." I gave a light, depressing sigh before shaking my head. "So, what can I do for you?" I asked, setting the device aside.

"Well, firstly, I'd love to learn how to tune my own crystal." He said, his eyes barely hiding his excitement.

"If and when we meet again, sure." I said, smiling in amusement.

"Good enough, I suppose." He shrugged, before his face turned a little more serious. "I wanted to ask you why you have such a low opinion of the Jedi and the Light Side of the Force." He told me, looking into my eyes.

"I don't really." I shrugged. "I just don't want to be a part of either group. The Light Side has never come easy to me." I confessed. "It's like trying to punch through a wooden door; it's difficult and the end result is far from satisfactory, but it's doable." I frowned. "The Dark Side, however, is like walking through a waterfall; simple, effortless, and the consequences are a minor inconvenience at best." I continued. "For me at least." Rather crude comparisons, I am aware, but they work, don't they?

"Kanan's told me that those who embrace the Dark Side are doomed to a downward spiral of pain, hatred, and destruction." Ezra said softly. "I'm inclined to believe him, as we've encountered a Sith before, but…" He trailed off.

"But?" I asked him.

"I don't feel nearly as much darkness or hate coming from you." He said, frowning in confusion. "With Vader, it was chilling, almost overwhelming. But with you…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "I don't know." He said.

"Ezra." I sighed. "Jedi and Sith, Dark and Light, it's all an arbitrary divide that the Jedi themselves have been drilling into their students since the Great Sith War of Exar Kun." I shook my head. "They believe that 'Dark' and 'Evil' are mutually inclusive; they're not." I told him. "The line between 'Dark' and 'Evil' is wider than most people know." I added.

"You're saying one can be Dark without being evil?" He asked, taking my words in very carefully.

I nodded. "Exactly." I confirmed. "Now, that's not to say that the Dark Side isn't dangerous; it is." I said. "If one is not careful, and attentive, the Dark Side could easily consume you like a rancor." We both smiled at the crude, albeit amusing comparison before I continued. "But if your will is strong enough, then the Dark Side will be forced to submit." I finished.

"Is that what happened with you?" He asked. I nodded.

"I've had lapses in my willpower, for sure." I noted. "Where I lose my temper at the wrong time, let my guard down, and whatnot, and at that point the Dark Side has… twisted, shall we say, within me, producing… unpleasant consequences." I grimaced at a few unpleasant memories.

"I'll… take your word for it." Ezra decided. Wise decision.

"Was that all?" I asked patiently.

"No, just one more question." He told me. I nodded. "Who trained you?" He asked in curiosity.

"No one person, really." I answered, my eyes drifting to the purple holocron resting on my desk. I brought to my hand with the Force, shocking Ezra.

"Is that…" He trailed off in shock. I nodded and activated the Holocron, showing a holographic image of Revan.

"This is Darth Revan, one of the greatest Sith Lords and/or Jedi Knights to ever live." I said, hovering the device above my hand. "Since acquiring this holocron, I have added to my skill set in both the Force and lightsaber combat, but I have had other teachers." I recounted, deactivating the Holocron.

"Being?" Ezra asked in interest.

"Ahsoka, for one." I answered, surprising him. "She's the one who taught me how to use Jar'kai; fighting with two lightsabers." I explained, smiling fondly at the memories. I was quite attached to the Togruta woman. If she was a little older, I might have said she was almost like a mother to me, after my actual mother disappeared. "Before her, there was my mother, who taught me all she could about the Force and lightsaber combat. She even took me to Tatooine to get a Krayt Dragon Pearl for my lightsaber." I recalled.

"Krayt Dragon Pearl?" he asked in confusion, making me smile in amusement.

"Kyber Crystals aren't the only power sources that can be used in a lightsaber." I informed. "Krayt Dragon Pearls, Dantari Crystals, Lava Crystals, and Lignan Crystals all work just as well as Kyber Crystals." I explained, intriguing the boy quite a bit.

"And where's your lightsaber?" He asked in interest. Giving him a thoughtful look, I let a moment pass before I decided to show him my weapon. I held my hand out to my bed, focussing the Force. A small compartment opened at the floor right next to my bed. Inside it, were two lightsabers. One was black, with relatively long handle and two more emitters on either side of the top. A crossguard lightsaber; my mother's. My lightsaber, however, was different. It was also black, with three rings of golden filigree on the grip, and the emitter was shaped like a golden Krayt Dragon's head. In a split second, my lightsaber had shot into my hand. "Wow." He said, impressed, as he saw the design. With a smirk, I activated the device, showing off a pitch black lightsaber blade, with miniscule amounts of white electricity dancing along its length.

"Krayt Dragon Pearls come in various colours, including, but not limited to: blue, green, red, and black." I explained, staring at the blade. It wasn't flat or curved into a tip like the Darksaber, it looked like a completely normal lightsaber blade, but the colour matched the Darksaber to a T, as did the hum it released. "As you've probably guessed, I used a black one." I added, deactivating the weapon. "Anywho, back to your question, the only other teacher I've had is my mother's Holocron." I told him. Out of nowhere, the ship suddenly shook, making Ezra and I topple towards the ground. Groaning, we got up, rubbing out heads. "What the fuck was that?" I demanded of the air, standing to my feet. Ezra and shot out of the room, straight towards the cockpit.

* * *

"What's happening?" I asked of Hera as Ezra and I ran into the Bridge.

"I dropped us out of Hyperspace to plot our final jump, but we just so happened to have come across some Imperial patrol ships." Hera answered, avoiding a shot from a TIE fighter.

"What have we got?" I asked, sitting in the captain's chair.

"A massive squadron of TIEs, and two bulk freighters." She answered, sliding out of the way of two more shots as Sabine, who was in the co-pilot seat, shot a couple of TIEs down.

"T7, extend the Strike Foils. Hera, evasive action. Sabine, target the TIEs with the lasers cannons, and, on my mark, fire a Proton torpedo on the freighters' nose." I ordered. They didn't question me. T7, who was at the terminal at the back of the room, bleeped in confirmation as he extended the foils on the Huntress' wings, Hera avoided every shot that came our way, and Sabine blasted every TIE she could.

"Wow, this is a really good ship…" Ezra mumbled as stood next to me, a hand on my chair to support himself.

"Sabine, now." I ordered the Mando, who pressed the key in front of her. Said key sent a glowing yellow torpedo in the path of the freighter. A common weakness in Imperial Freighters; the nose. The shield is ovular shaped, and the nearest part of the ship to the shield, is the nose. Aim there, and the shields should go down faster. Of course, everyone in the Rebellion knows this, as does the Empire, so the TIEs don't often give enough time to aim for the nose properly, and the hits usually miss; like Sabine's just did.

"Fuck." The girl cursed.

"There are too many TIEs." Hera scowled, dodging an incoming torpedo. "It'll take hours to get them all, and I don't know if I can keep dodging those torpedos!" She grunted as she sharply, and just barely, dodged another torpedo.

"Plan B then." I decided, holding my arm out, focussing.

"And what would Plan B be?" Sabine asked iritably as she barely grazed a TIE fighter wing. Yeah, this is not an ideal situation. The Huntress only has cannons that can fire at what's directly in front of it, and though she's fast, she can't easily fire on a Fighter that's twirling in erratic patterns around her. Adding into that the fact there are two Bulk Freighters firing on us, this situation was really not ideal. Our best choice is to retreat.

"Be ready to jump." I told Hera as I closed my eyes. If anyone objected or questioned me, I didn't hear them; I'd tuned them out, as well as everything else. No sound, smell, sight, or sensation hit my senses as I focussed on one thing and one thing only; the ships in front of us, the TIEs and Freighters both. However, I was aware of the gasp that Hera and Sabine released when they saw what I was doing. Ezra, however, didn't seem all that surprised.

Pushing all of my emotions into my abilities, I was surrounded by a faint red aura as the freighters in front of us started to separate, providing enough space for the Huntress to fit through. Seeing what I was doing, Hera made beeline for said space, tell T7 to charge up the Hyperdrive. Neither freighter will shot at us with the risk of hitting each other at hand, and none of the TIEs will fire either, for they could hit the Freighters.

"Jump." I whispered to Hera, who got my message. She punched in the coordinates as fast as her nimble fingers could before T7 activated the Hyperdrive. As the Huntress flew into Hyperspace, I clenched my extended and open hand into a fist, opening my eyes to show the bright amethyst glow that had replaced them. The explosions were just barely visible before the jump to Hyperspace was finished.

"By the Goddess, how did you do that?" Hera asked in shock an awe as she turned her chair to face me.

"Even Kanan hasn't been able to wench two ships away from each other with his powers." Sabine added, equally as shocked and awed.

"The Dark Side." I gave my simple answer. "It's powerful, and in the right hands, can be used to achieve feats that go beyond your imagination." I said wisely. "Of course, that's not to say a Light Sider _can't_ do what I just did, but it would be infinitely more difficult." I cast my gaze towards Kanan, who arrived at the bridge at some point during that small skirmish, Zeb behind him. Again, despite the mask, I felt as if his eyes were boring into my own. "I suggest you all prep for leaving. Your station is not too far." I said to them, standing up. Stumbling a little from the dizzy spell that followed, I walked right out of the bridge, headed to my quarters. I didn't even look at Kanan as I walked past him.

* * *

"Take care of yourself Kid." Zeb grinned as he walked past me, the docking tube of the Ghost attached to the Huntress' airlock. We shared a fist bump before he went through the tube into the Ghost.

"Thanks for the help with my lightsaber, and the advice." Ezra smiled as we shook hands.

"Anytime Ezra. I'll be glad to teach you that little tidbit you saw in my quarters if we meet again." I promised.

"Deal." He grinned at the prospect. As Hera passed by, we shared a salute. Between two pilots, that's more than any words could ever convey. Smiling, she continued on. Next was Sabine. We looked at each other for a number of seconds before sharing a smile.

"Ner Vod." I said to her, holding out my fist.

"Ner Vod." She responded, placing her fist on top of mine. Smiling, she continued on her way to the Ghost. Literally translated, Sabine and I just said 'my friend' or 'my brother/sister' to each other. To our culture, it's a declaration of personal alliance and respect between two individuals. If either one of us has any need of the other, we'd be there as fast we could be.

Anywho, time for the last goodbye; Kanan. Wonder how this will go.

It's baffling how he is able to seem like he's staring right into my eyes, especially with that mask. His face is directed at mine, and if that mask weren't there, I know for certain that our eyes would meet perfectly. It's both fascinating and unsettling at the same time.

"I owe you an apology." He said simply, surprising me. "I don't approve of your use of the Dark Side, and I fear that it may consume you as it has so many others, but you were right." He sighed softly. "I'm not your father, nor am I your Master. If this is the path you've chosen, then I have no business trying to change that." He said with a Jedi bow of apology.

"Thank you Kanan." I said, returning the bow. "I should also apologise. I shouldn't have mocked your ways." I told him.

"I just have one question: why are you so against the Jedi?" He asked. Hm, Ezra and he seem to function on similar thoughts it appears.

"I'm not, it just won't work for me." I told him, folding my arms and leaning on the wall. "I don't want to live as the Jedi did, void of emotion and attachment. I lived like that for a long time, in my early adolescence, and it was, to put it simply, hell." I shook my head. "I hated it, and it's not something I want to repeat." I grimaced. "Plus, how many times have the Jedi been pushed to the brink of extinction before rebuilding?" I asked of him. He visibly, but subtly, flinched at my words. I was right though. Order 66 was not the first Jedi Purge, and if they rebuild, it won't be the last.

"And what of the Light Side?" he asked.

"It has merit." I conceded. "I've used techniques and other aspects of the Light Side before, and they've saved my life more than once, but I'm at my most powerful when I harness the Dark Side." I frowned in thought. "It's not really as bad as the Jedi make it out to be." I added as an afterthought. Kanan seemed reluctant, unsurprisingly. "I'm not denying the danger it possesses. The Dark Side is _incredibly_ dangerous to use, but keep in mind, the same could be said about a lightsaber, or a blaster." I pointed out.

"It's not the same thing." He countered calmly, albeit thoughtfully.

"Not on the same scale, no, it isn't." I agreed with him. "But with enough willpower, it is possible to dominate the Dark Side, rather than the other way around." I explained.

"I've never heard of any individual doing that, so I'll have to take your word for it." He hummed in thought. "Perhaps if we meet again, we can discuss this at a greater length." He suggested.

"Perhaps." I said, walking back into my ship. "But for now, farewell, Master Jedi." I bade him farewell with a smirk. Returning it, he nodded, walking through the docking tube to the Ghost. As the airlock closed, and I heard the docking tube separate, I couldn't help a small sigh escaping me. With the sound of their hyperdrive activating, two words just left me out of nowhere. "Alone again." I mumbled. I wasn't even aware I'd spoken until after I'd finished the statement. Shaking my head, I headed towards the cockpit, intent on setting a course for a planet where I don't have to worry about the Empire. Tatooine, or maybe Ord Mantell.

* * *

"Did you do it?" Hera asked of her Mandalorian friend as they sat on their chairs in the Ghost's bridge.

"I did." Sabine confirmed, leaning forward. "All that's left is for T7 to show him." She said with a slight frown.

"Something wrong?" Hera asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Doesn't this seem a tad… manipulative?" Sabine asked.

"A little, maybe." Hera conceded. "But this _is_ how we got Ezra on the crew." Her lips twisted up slightly into a soft, but mischievous smile. "And you." She reminded. Sabine couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"A holo-message?" I asked as T7 came rolling into my quarters, interrupting my meditation _again._ What is it with this little guy and my meditation?

"Partner = Correct." T7 bleeped. "Message speaker = Mandalorian female. / Name = Sabine Wren." He informed, making me raise my eyebrow. Sabine left me a holo-message? Wonder what that's about.

"Play it." I told the droid, who booped in affirmation and used his holo-display, creating a holographic image of Sabine's upper half, which spoke.

"Hey Mike, I left this message with T7 before we left, hoping to get a little something through to you." She said, crossing her arms. Judging by her posture and what I could see, I'd guess that she was sitting down somewhere, probably the bed she'd used or the cargo bay. "I understand if you don't want to get involved with the Rebellion, but I wanted to tell you that you were wrong about nobody trusting you for using the Dark Side." She told me. "Nobody in the Rebellion is completely innocent; we all have blood on our hands and things we're proud of." She said knowingly, a hint of painful nostalgia in her voice. "But the Rebellion will not shun you for using an aspect of the Force that they don't understand. To be honest, I don't think anybody really understands the Force." She said with a light chuckle.

"True." I couldn't help voicing a small agreement, smiling.

"But the point is, you would be an invaluable asset to the Rebellion." She stated, her tone shifting to a more serious and firm one. "So here's your choice Michael. You can stay by yourself, and wait for your vision to come true whilst twiddling your thumbs, or you come to Phoenix Squadron, where you can be a part of something bigger. Something more. With Ezra, Kanan, Hera, Zeb, and me." She said, smiling softly. "I'd honestly be delighted to have another Mando in the family." She admitted before taking a small breath. "We all have a purpose in life. I know mine. Do you?" She asked. And that is when the message ended.

"Wow." I said simply, quite surprised that they go to such lengths to get me to join them. That last bit was especially surprising. My purpose in each life isn't always clear. Sometimes I know from childhood, sometimes I find out well into my teens. I'd always thought that in this life I'd help in training Luke and maybe even Leia when the time comes, and maybe I still will, but it's still going to be several years until Luke actually needs the training. I suppose Sabine's question does hold merit… Am I going to sit on my ass until Luke shows up? If nothing else, it would be incredibly boring.

"Partner = OK?" T7 asked, rolling over closer to me. I looked up at him and smile.

"I'm fine T7." I assured him. "How much longer before we arrive at the rendezvous point?" I asked him. We still need to deliver Kali to Leia.

"ETA = 27 minutes." He informed me.

"Good." I smiled once more. "After we're done there, I want you to set a course for Atollon." I told him. He perked up cheerfully.

"T7 = On it!" He cheered, rolling out of the room, making me shake my head.

"Well then…" I said to myself, looking at my helmet, which was resting on the nightstand next to my bed. "Let's see what the future brings… that I don't know of." I smirked.

* * *

 **And that's the end of that. Sorry for the delay. As I've said before, I have way too many ideas in my head for stories and whatnot. Add in the fact that I've been buried in a new TV show, new to me I mean, I haven't exactly been focussing on writing recently. Also, my family and I just got a Nintendo Switch, so there's that. :P**

 **So, what do you all think of Mike's lightsaber? I saw the image on Google and just fell in love. I made it that he used a Krayt Dragon Pearl because it fit with the Krayt Dragon theme, and I like the thought of Mike being strong enough to take down a Krayt Dragon. I went with black because he's a Mando and the Darksaber was made by the first Mando Jedi. So, behold! The second Darksaber!**

 **One last thing. I am aware that some of my stories are M Rated because of the content and/or potential content within them, whilst others, like this one, are T Rated because I don't intend to get too steamy with the content. Legend of Korra is an exception, because it was made to be a lot more realistic than Last Airbender. However, I have been getting requests to see more mature content in stories like this one and even my HTTYD fic, which I just uploaded. Do you guys really want me to put lemons in Star Wars Rebels and Race to the Edge? Please tell me in the reviews.**


	7. Dreams

Ok, either I'm far less skilled than I thought, or I don't give the Jedi enough credit. Here I am, on Atollon, with Kanan before me, his saber active and his Form III stance hard. The difference between us is phenomenal, though in varying ways. One hand, I'm much faster than he is, and I have a great mastery over Form V, rivalling Kanan's mastery over Form III, perhaps even surpassing it. Kanan, however, has much more experience with the lightsaber than I do. He started training well over 20 years ago, before I was born. Though he did go a long while without using his skills and abilities, it is clear that his training stuck with him.

Unfortunately, whatever skill I have in lightsaber combat was not enough to break through his defense. He has years of experience over me, and I'll probably run out of stamina before he runs out patience. So, I had to rethink my strategy. Holding my green-black lightsaber tightly in my left hand, I unclasped my Darksaber, yes I call it a Darksaber, and activated the dark blade.

Focussing my Jar-Kai stance, with both blades in a reverse grip, I charged him once more. When he blocked the attack from one of my blades, I flipped over him and swiped at his legs, damaging them. Thankfully, our blades were set to non-lethal settings. Un-thankfully, he didn't seem to register the damage. All I got from him was a grunt and a hard jab to the chest with his hilt; hard enough to send me to the ground. Before any coherent thought returned to my dizzied mind, I had the elder Jedi's saber pointed at my throat.

"My win." Kanan said with the smallest of smirks as he held out a hand for me to take. Smirking back, I accepted the help and got up, bringing my dropped sabers to my hand with the Force.

"That makes us tied in win-loss ratio." I said, dusting off my armour.

"More or less." He agreed, clipping his lightsaber to his belt. After that, we went our separate ways towards our respective ships. Thankfully, the people here trusted me enough to leave me, and the Huntress, alone whilst not on duty.

It's been about three months since I joined the Rebellion, and it's actually been great. Much better than I thought it would be. Nobody really has anything to say about me being a Darksider, they're just glad to have another Force-wielder on their side. Although they do keep calling me a Jedi. Most people here don't understand the difference between Jedi and Sith. Besides that little tidbit of annoyance, I am enjoying being a part of the Rebellion. Sticking it to the Empire is much more fun with them, especially the Ghost Crew.

Ezra and I often spar, as I do with Kanan, though significantly less often. Hera is uncannily motherly, something I found quite annoying. It took quite the tongue lashing from me to get her to stop, though that didn't really sour relationship. We bonded quite well over our shared love of ships, and I eventually conceded to her request of letting her fly the Huntress again, though only when the begging got too much. Zeb I was fairly neutral with. We spoke from time to time, but we were hardly best of friends, though we were far from mortal enemies too. Chopper was one annoying little shit. I might seriously fry him if he gets on my nerves too much. Nuff said.

Sabine I spent the most time with of the Ghost crew. We were both Mandos, so we had a lot we could talk about, not to mention the shared thrill blowing shit up we had. Most of our conversations were done in Mando'a, Sabine really missed speaking in her mother tongue, and I spared with her more than I did with Ezra and Kanan put together. She was surprisingly enthusiastic about interacting with me, which was strange given her character. However, given the fact that the only other Mandalorian she can speak with is Fenn Rau, a prisoner of the Rebellion. The leader of the Protectors.

As I walked along the edge of the base, watching the spiders on the other side of the fence of sensor markers that had been set up to keep them out, I suddenly felt a presence. I stopped dead in my tracks as the feeling hit me. This presence was familiar; I'd felt it before. It couldn't be…

" _Flesh of my flesh…"_ A familiar voice spoke in my ear. I hadn't heard that voice in months.

"Satele…" I whispered, looking into the distance. Yep, there she was. A good distance away, I could see the Force Ghost of my ancestor standing, hands behind her back, looking at me expectantly.

"Who's Satele?" Another voice suddenly asked. I jumped at the voice, but calmed down when I saw it was just Sabine.

"Sabine…" I let out a sigh of relief. "You startled me." I said with a light scowl, looking back at Satele. She was gone.

"Sorry." The amused smile that the younger Mando put on was one that suggested she really wasn't that sorry. "Anyway, as I asked, who is Satele?" She asked. "Sounds familiar."

"Satele Shan." I reminded her, looking at the spot where Satele had been. "My ancestor. She was once Grand Master of the Jedi Order." I explained, looking back to Sabine. "When people die, they become part of the Force, and if they're powerful enough, they can manifest into the physical world as Ghosts." That seemed to surprise her. I wonder if Kanan never mentioned this? "Back on Alderaan, I came upon her final resting place, where I spoke with her, and received these." I gestured to the two lightsabers on my belt, the ones Satele had given me. "I just saw her again now, in the distance." I pointed in the direction Satele had been.

"You're kidding me, right?" She asked hesitantly.

"With everything you've seen Kanan and Ezra do, is this really the most far-fetched thing you've ever heard?" I asked in amusement. I'm not too surprised that she's hesitant to believe.

"Well, no, I suppose not." She conceded, giving me a look. "But seriously though, Ghosts?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, 'Ghost' is a bit of a stretch. More like metaphysical manifestations of an individual, through the Force, before death took hold." I said, trying to find a good way to explain the situation.

"That's basically the definition of a Ghost." Sabine deadpanned, crossing her arms.

"Fair enough." I conceded, walking passed the fence of sensor markers.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" She called out to me.

"Investigating." I responded simply.

"But, those spiders!" She called out to me as I got further away. One of the spiders crawled over to me, letting out a loud hiss. Lazily, I gave a wave of my hand, and the creature calmed, trodding away like nothing had happened.

"I think I'm good Sabine." I smiled at the younger girl's shocked look. I remember her mentioning how hostile the spiders were. "I'll return shortly." I said with a two fingered salute, continuing on.

* * *

This planet really was a dump, if I'm being honest. I mean, sure, it's a good place to build a base, and it's very quiet, two points in it's favour, but its hot, dry, and the only wildlife here are those huge spiders and those tiny little guys in the shells. I also occasionally noticed a familiar owl-like creature, a convor, flying overhead. Along with it was another strange bird, a reminiscent of a raven, but it had a few red feathers lining the edges of its wings, and it's eyes seemed to glow red when the sunlight flashed over them. Shrugging, I continued onward, following the call of my ancestor.

I had to wonder why she wanted to see me again. She already gave me the lightsabers, and I can't exactly rebuild the Shan family with the war going on. Perhaps she just wants to check up on me? Doubtful. I don't think a Force Ghost would pop up just to say 'Hi! How ya doin?' Maybe she needs me to do something for her. I hope she doesn't intend to make me her little errand boy. No thank you.

Anywho, I came upon a small clearing. I was fairly certain that was where Satele's presence was coming from. It had a bit of a dip to it, but it was rather wide. Wide enough for-

*Rumble*

No… it couldn't be.

A collection of rocks and this planet's flora suddenly rumbled, as something beneath them rose up. As the mass elevated, I saw two big legs underneath it, two arms at either side, and finally a face. It had a flat nose, a long red beard, and bright silver eyes. The creature used its arms to support its heavy upper body, not unlike an ape. Its eyes bore into mine, as if he was looking into my soul.

"Ah, you heard my call. Good." The creature spoke in a loud, deep voice. I figured it was male. I mean, I know who this guy is after all.

"Call?" I asked in confusion, my bewilderment calming. Hey, I may have known this guy was gonna show up, but that doesn't make him any less breathtaking to behold.

"Yes. Your imbalance woke me from my slumber." The hulking figure told me as I sat down on my knees before him.

"I apologize." I told him. I wouldn't be happy if someone woke me from a nap. "What do you mean by imbalance?" I asked.

"Your presence is like a raging storm in this quiet world." He told me. "Clapping with thunder and lightning."

"Is that to imply that you're a Force-wielder?" I asked thoughtfully, despite knowing the answer. "You're not like any Jedi or Sith I've ever met." I noted.

"Wielder?" He repeated, seemingly amused. "The Jedi and Sith wield the Ashla and Bogan." He said. "The Light and the Dark. I am the One in the Middle; the Bendu." He introduced himself.

"You're like me." I surmised. "Or perhaps, I am like you." I thought out loud.

"Perhaps." Bendu let out a laugh. "What do you call yourself?" He asked.

"I am Michael Shan." I introduced myself. It's only polite.

"You carry much emotion, Michael Shan." He informed me. "I feel anger, grief, and hatred flowing off of you in waves. But also, empathy, mercy, and love." He studied me carefully. "There is much conflict within you." He said.

"Such is the struggle of one such I, attempting to find balance within both the Light and the Dark." I said with a tired sigh.

"Indeed." Bendu agreed with a knowing chuckle. "And yet, you lean towards the Dark?" he asked.

"As I said, it is a struggle. The Light Side teachings are difficult for me." I answered.

"You have a teacher, no?" He asked. Somehow, I think he knows the answer.

"The closest thing I have to a teacher is this." I told him, pulling out the purple Holocron. He hummed in interest, bringing the device to his palm. Within seconds, it was open. "Well, that's a blow to my ego." I said dryly.

"How so?" Bendu asked in amusement.

"It took me hours to open that thing." I grumbled, much to the alien's amusement.

"This is indeed an extraordinary device, more so than many of its kind, perhaps all." Bendu said as he examined the Holocron. "The knowledge within it can bring great good, or, perhaps, great chaos." He said wisely, allowing it to levitate back to me. "Use it well." He advised.

"Always." I agreed. "Now, a question, if you please?" He gave a single nod. "When you called to me, did you do so by mimicking my ancestor's presence?" I asked. He smiled and laughed.

"Yes, indeed." He told me. "Satele Shan, former Jedi Grand Master spoke to me a short while ago." He revealed. "She believes I could be of assistance to you in your task." He explained.

"And what task would that be?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I have many."

"Which do you want it to be?" he asked, amused again. What is it this guy finds so amusing?

"I cannot rebuild that Shan Family until the war is over, and I don't imagine you taking a side in said war." He gave a single hum of affirmation. "There's freeing Mandalore from the Empire's clutches, but that would still require you to take a side, as is the case with freeing Lothal." I narrowed my eyes in thought. "The only thing I imagine you'd be willing to help me with is my struggle for balance between the Light and Dark." I said.

"I could help you there, yes." He confirmed with a nod. "But the question is, can you handle what I have to teach?" He asked, smiling in amusement, _again._

"We can find out." I told him, narrowing my eyes. "But what I want to know, is why you would teach me at all?" I gave him a pointed look.

"Hm, why indeed." he chuckled. What is so funny?! "I believe that all Force-sensitives need to learn how to overcome their fears and internal conflicts." He said, looking to the sky. "The universe is vast, but the Force, even more so." he looked back at me. "Even in all my years, I have only explored but a fraction of it's true nature." he said sagely. "I can teach you balance, I can teach you to be The One in the Middle." He narrowed his eyes. "But, can you learn?" He asked. I was silent for a moment before I answered.

"When it comes to the war, no." I shook my head. "I fight for the Rebellion, and I have every intention of bringing the Empire down." he narrowed his eyes. "However, when it comes to the Force, the Force within me, I believe I can do it." I looked him in the eye. For several moments, neither of us said anything. However, after a short while, Bendu grinned widely and let out a loud laugh.

"Truly, your determination and willpower are unlike any I've seen in many years." he told me, his eyes twinkling. "I can not take you down the path of Balance that you seek, that is one you must walk alone." He told me, smirking. "However, some guidance every now and again, is never a bad thing." He said.

* * *

After a long conversation with Bendu about Balance, the Force, the Ashla and Bogan, and any other number of topics pertaining to the Force, he even spoke of his conversation with Ahsoka before she died, I went back to Chopper Base. I was greeted by the entire Ghost Crew crowding me and going on and on about how stupid a move it was to go out there alone with no protection. The dirty joke I responded with there was not met with amusement, I can tell you that. What followed was a long lecture from 'Momma-Hera' as Sabine and Ezra secretly call this side of Hera. I just sat and tuned her out, nodding and agreeing whenever I noticed a pause.

Afterwards, I went about my business. Commander Sato had me teaching a few of the newer recruits how to fight with a sword. Why would he trust me with such a task? Despite being relatively new to the Rebellion? Well, I could thank Ahsoka for that. Apparently she spoke very highly of me. She made it clear that if I were to join the Rebellion, I should be given the Rank of Major. That was a surprise, let me tell you. Major Shan. Yeah, I like that.

Anyhow, after a long day of learning and teaching, I was finally able to retire to my quarters on my ship. AsI slept, I saw strange images of people, some familiar, some not. I heard them speaking, some yelling, some whispering, some screaming. Something about it just felt so… real.

* * *

 _~~Dream~~_

 _A woman with bright blue eyes, and long black hair tied into a high ponytail, stood in a Makashi stance, her lightsaber at the ready. The hilt was black, and had two more emitters on either side of the main blade emitter; a crossguard. The blade was a deep amethyst colour, as were the 'guard-blades,' as it were. She wore a simple full body black suit with amethyst accents, and small armour paddings on her shoulders and arms. Across from her, stood a tall man in black armour. A black cape draped over this man's shoulders, his face covered with a mask, and a helmet covering his head. He wielded a crimson red lightsaber, his stance that of Djem So. His breathing was extremely heavy, and especially pronounced through the mask._

 _These two were Relia Shan and Darth Vader. Where or when they were, was not clear._

 _As they charged one another, the imagery shifted and morphed._

 _Now it showed a man, broken and battered, wearing dented and abused Mandalorian armour, grey in colour, with several white accents. He was tall, at least 1.8 metres. His skin fair, his hair blonde, and his eyes brown. He was on his knees. Before him, was a tall, thin Chiss man, who wore an Imperial uniform. He had a dark look in his red eyes, and a blaster in his hand, aimed at the downed Mandalorian's head. Said Mandalorian gave a strong, defiant glare._

 _These two were Leon Varad and Admiral Thrawn._

 _Admiral Thrawn pulled the trigger, and the images shifted._

 _In the middle of a field, stood two women, facing each other, their hands intertwined, barely any space between them. One was Relia Shan, the other was a Mandalorian, shorter than Relia. She wore a set of blue and white armour, similar in many ways to Leon Varad's. Her hair was short, a brown-ish shade of red in colour. Her eyes, bright green, bore into Relia's as they stared at each other. The Mandalorian whispered something, her expression sincere, as she pressed her lips to Relia's._

 _As Relia responded to the kiss, the images changed once more._

 _Darth Vader was doing battle with a formidable opponent. A young Togruta woman with a light orange complexion and white tattoos across her face fought against him. Her Lekku were white, with blue stripes decorating them. She wore a sleeveless, brown tunic and black leggings, both with some armour paddings, as well as her boots. Her arms were covered by armoured, fingerless gloves that went up to her shoulders. She wielded two lightsabers, one shorter than the other, a shoto, both of which held bright silver blades._

 _Ahsoka Tano._

 _As she lunged towards her former Master, the images shifted once more. Everything became an erratic blend of colours, shapes, and sounds. Nothing could be made out of any of it, there were too many shapes, too many colours, and the sounds all melted together, making an awful white noise. However, as the mix of various stimuli to the senses blended closer and closer, some sound was understandable._

" _The friend I knew is gone…"_

" _This the end for you, Varad."_

" _I love you, Relia…"_

" _I won't leave you, not this time."_

 _~~Dream End~~_

* * *

I shot up with a gasp, my breath thick as my blanket flew off of me. Several objects in my room, which were floating for some reason, dropped to ground. My lightsabers, holocrons, and armour were all among said objects. I let out a heavy sigh, falling back into my bed. Some dream that was. Vader, Thrawn, my parents, Ahsoka. All people I haven't seen in some time. Then there's that woman that my mother was with. Boy, _that_ was an uncanny mix of awkward and confusing.

I knew Mom fancied the ladies just as often, if not more so, than she did the men around her. She was never a totally Jedi-like Jedi. Sure, she followed the code, she fought in the Clone Wars, she led a battalion of Clones, etc. However, she was a real champion of love. Like me, she had no desire to live unfeeling and unattached. We both felt that to block off one's emotions and attachments was unnatural, and not something either of us wanted to embrace. Of course, she expertly hid this from the Jedi.

I was four when Order 66 came into play. At the point, Mom grabbed me from our home on Coruscant and stealthily made our way to Mandalore, where we lived with Clan Varad. Well, I did. Mom lived elsewhere; she and my father weren't together. At least, not when I was growing up. If Mom was ever with someone, I never knew. I alternated between her home and Dad's every two weeks. When I was with her, she taught me the Way of the Force. When I was 13, she took me to Tatooine to find a Krayt Dragon Pearl for my lightsaber. A year later, she disappeared without a word. Now, seven years later, I still haven't heard from her.

As for the woman she was with in that dream, I have no idea who she is. She did look familiar, though I'm not sure where I've seen her. If she's some kind of famous Mandalorian, I didn't see her when on Mandalore. Her armour was similar to mine, that of Clan Kryze. The armour I wear was passed down to me by my grandmother on my father's side, who was a member of Clan Kryze. Also, the woman's hair and eyes were quite similar to mine when I don't use my Metamorgan ability. Could I be related to her?

Thrawn killing my father was not something I enjoyed seeing, let me tell you that. I know that tall, dark, and blue is going to show up soon enough. When he does, I'm going to give him hell, plain and simple. Dad may not have been the fishing trip, teach you to drive, or hockey game kinda father, but he was a good Dad. I would know, I've had plenty. I have no intention of letting Thrawn traipse about in the galaxy for much longer.

As for the last thing I saw, I'm fairly certain we all know what that was. Ahsoka's last battle with Vader. I remember watching the season two finale. It drove me crazy not knowing what happened. I felt Ahsoka die in the Force, but it was strange. It felt as if her presence was pulled away from existence. Then, as soon as it came, the feeling just went away. I don't what that means, but I intend to find out. Eventually.

"Dammit, now I'm wide awake." I scowled as I sat up once more. Getting off of my bed, I went over to my wardrobe and pulling out some clothes. Just a simple grey Mandalorian tunic and black trousers. With a sigh, I grabbed my pencils and pad, leaving my quarters.

* * *

When I can't sleep, I usually train, meditate, or learn from my Holocron. Since I am not in the mood for any of those things, I decided to go with a different passtime; sitting in my captain's chair with a pot of caf next to me and drawing. It is difficult to come across things like pencil and paper in this universe, but it's far from impossible. You just need to know where to go, and who to speak to. Currently, I was in the middle of a drawing of Revan, with her old Sith armour and lightsaber, though I left out the mask and hood. Why that came to mind, I don't know. It just did. Also, for some reason, I felt compelled to take my Mom's lightsaber too.

With a sigh, I set the finished drawing down on the inactive starmap, leaning back in my chair with my feet pulled up, leaning right next to the drawing. T7 rolled into the room, carrying a refilled cup of caf, as well as a piping hot pot of the stuff. Smiling at him, I happily accepted the cup as he set the pot down on the floor next to me. Confirming that there was nothing else I needed, he rolled out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts. For the longest time, I just stared at the stars, sipping the caf.

"Rough night?" A voice suddenly asked, startling me. I turned and saw Sabine, who was leaning on the doorway with a tired smile on her face.

"Quite." I told her, sitting up straight. "I often sit here if I can't sleep." I said as I used the Force to twist the pilot's seat around for her. Smiling, she sat down with a soft sigh. "Night shift?" I asked. She hummed an affirmative in response.

"Just finished. Saw you in the chair on my to the Ghost." She told me, happily taking the cup of caf T7 had prepared for her. Even it's just fetching a drink or snack, T7 loves being useful. It made him an incredibly likable droid. "T7 let me in." She added.

"I gathered." I responded dully, letting out a yawn.

"So what's keeping you up?" She asked, striking conversation.

"I had a vision." I said with a shrug.

"A vision?" she asked in surprise. I nodded. "A vision of the future?"

"Past." I corrected her. "It brought a few things to mind is all." I sighed.

"Such as?" Sabine asked in interest. I gave her a look, wondering if I should tell her. I know it would be good to talk about this. We're both Mandalorians and we get on quite well. I don't see any reason _not_ to tell her. She might be able to provide some insight after all.

"My mother." I said after a moment of silence.

"Your mother?" She repeated.

"I saw her fighting Vader." Boy, _that_ surprised the younger Mando. "However, I believe that was years ago, and plays no huge role in the grand scheme of things." Unsurprisingly, this did little to assuage her surprise. "The part I'm thinking of is, well, I saw her… kissing someone." I said awkwardly. Yeah, speaking of your parent's love/sex lives is never a smooth conversation.

"Kissing someone?" Sabine repeated again, now a little more interested. Makes sense; Relia Shan, Jedi Master, kissing someone isn't exactly normal.

"A Mandalorian woman, probably of Clan Kryze." I frowned in thought, shifting my hair and eyes to their natural colours. "She had similar hair and eyes to me." I added. Sabine has seen my natural colours.

"What does that mean?" Sabine asked in confusion.

"I… don't know." I admitted. My mom was smooching with a woman who looked like me. Could she be a relative of Dad's? Or maybe… nah, couldn't be. They would have told me. I think. I hope. Why wouldn't they?

"Oh? What's this?" Sabine's voice suddenly brought me out of my thoughts. She was holding my mother's lightsaber and my sketchpad.

"Careful with that." I snapped, bringing the lightsaber to my hands.

"I may not be a Jedi, but I can hold a lightsaber Mike." She said dully, giving me a look. I didn't say anything, but my grip on Mom's saber tightened slightly. "I have to say, I never pegged you for an artist." She said, holding up the drawing with a small smile.

"Not like you." I informed, returning the smile. "I can't use those airbrushes like you do. I prefer pencils." I said, taking the drawing from her as she handed it over.

"Must've been hard to come by." She said, sinking into the seat.

"Like you wouldn't believe." I sighed. "And expensive too." I said with a light scowl. The Jawa that had sold me the pencils was quite a greedy little dwarf, to say nothing about the paper's cost. After that day, I came to a conclusion; I hate Jawas. Along with anything on Tatooine really. The Tusken Raiders, the Jawas, the deserts, all of it. I can definitely see why Anakin hated it.

"So, who is that?" Sabine asked, pointing at the drawing.

"The late, great Darth Revan." I told her, earning a surprised look. "She was a Jedi Knight who turned to the Dark Side, but was redeemed." I explained further. "She is also my ancestor." That seemed to shock the younger Mando.

"You're related to her?" She asked in shock. I nodded.

"Revan fell in love with and married a woman named Bastila Shan." I looked at the drawing. "Through the Force, they were able to able to conceive a child, who they named Vaner Shan."

"I didn't know the Force could do that." Sabine said with wonder.

"You'll find there are many things one can do with the Force that you think would be impossible." I said with an amused smile.

"And the lightsaber?"

"It was my mother's."

"Oh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it." I let out a sigh, looking at the saber. For whatever reason, I felt the desire to activate it, which I did. The purple blade emerged with a high pitched his, electricity crackling around the base of the blade. The two guards came seconds after. Much like Kylo Ren's saber, the blades were unstable, due to a crack in the Hurrikaine Crystal Mom had used for it.

"Beautiful…" Sabine whispered. I smiled at her. She is the type of person to appreciate colour.

"Yeah. This weapon is a perfect extension of my mother." I stared at the blade. "Powerful, unpredictable, beautiful, and dangerous." I gave a smile as I deactivated the weapon.

"She sounds like a Mandalorian." Sabine quipped, making me chuckle.

"She wasn't, but she would've been great at it." I remembered the hunting trips she used to take me on.

"Do you want to talk about her?" Sabine suddenly asked. I shook my head.

"No, thank you. There's not much to talk about." I shrugged. "She was a jedi who survived Order 66 and hid on Mandalore. Then she disappeared." I sighed.

"Alright, I understand." She returned, a knowing tone in her voice. Given what she's been through with her family, I suppose she understands the desire to not speak of those you haven't seen in some time, for whatever reason. "Anyway, I am going to turn in for the night. Or what remains of it." She said, standing up. "Thanks for the talk, and the caf." She said.

"No, thank you." I smiled. She returned the smile and walked off. I will deny anyone who says I glanced at her rear.

* * *

 **OK, I know it's been three months since I updated this story, and I'm sorry. It's just that I'm a little blocked right now with pretty much all of my stories. I can't seem to keep focus one story for too long. This chapter is really just a filler. That said, I've recently considered restarting this story. There's a lot that I like about it, but also a lot that I want to change. I feel like I can do much better. There are also a few holes that I feel I clog up with rewrite. Maybe make a better backstory for Mike.**

 **What do you think of the interaction with Bendu? I thought it would be cool for them to meet before Kanan does. Given his status as 'The One in the Middle' I thought he could be of great help to Michael in his struggle for balance. Who else would be a good teacher? He can't learn everything from Revan's Holocron.**

 **Also, as you can see, we have the beginning chemistry with Sabine here. I'd planned for them to make things official around the time of Visions and Voices, but remember, I'm considering a re-write. If I do restart, I might start things a little earlier than I did here, like maybe in the middle of season 2. Tell me if you think I should restart or carry on.**

 **And Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans out there! I'm a Brit living in South Africa, so I don't celebrate it, but I hope ya'll enjoy it!**


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